The Personal War
by AznSoldier18
Summary: Four years after Kuja, the Iifa Tree, Memoria, and Zidane’s miraculous return, he goes to pay a mysterious visit to Oeilvert. Days later, he leaves Alexandria and then declares war on all of Gaia. Now the question is: for what is he fighting? 05192006
1. Prologue

Chapter One – Prologue

Garnet was sleeping peacefully when she felt the presence of another in her room. Without even bothering to open her eyes, she whispered the word of power:

"**Scan**."

Instantly, information of every kind poured into her mind like a flood, alerting her to anything and everything that was in the room. To a person with lesser experience, the information would have proved overwhelming, but Garnet had used this particular magic spell more than a hundred times during the course of her journey. More often than once, it had saved the entire group's lives.

Sorting through the information in her head easily, the Scan magic had identified the stranger as Zidane. Breathing slightly easier, she turned around and smiled at him. However, her smile was soon replaced by a look of surprise and shock when she saw Zidane dressed in full battle apparel with the Ultima Weapon strapped to his back and an Orichalcon dagger at his hip. He was rummaging around in her medicine chest, probably searching for a few high potions and elixirs.

"What are you doing?" Garnet demanded, startling Zidane so badly that he jumped two feet into the air. His face looked like that of a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He grinned crookedly and rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry," he replied smoothly, "I didn't mean to wake you. You looked so peaceful that I didn't want to wake you to ask you where you put our leftover elixirs. So I just kind of looked around myself. Sorry."

His tone may have been calm, but Garnet noticed that his tail was swishing back and forward quickly, as if with an anxious feeling. "_You're lying, Zidane_," Garnet thought to herself. She couldn't say that to his face, of course, but she could try to get the truth out of him in other ways.

"Where are you going?" she asked him with a cute smile on her face. He never could resist that face. He grinned and stuck his hands in his pockets.

He announced, "I'm going to Oeilvert." Garnet almost fell off of her bed when he said that. Oeilvert was the place that Zidane had first learned about his true heritage. He had not brought her along because of the anti-magic barrier, but he had told her all about it.

"Why?" she pressed. Oeilvert had been sealed off the last time she checked. But, knowing Zidane, that wasn't going to stop him. When he wanted to do something, there was no changing his mind.

"There is something there that I need to check out," he said casually, tossing his head to throw his golden locks out of his eyes. "I was kinda in a hurry when I went there to get the Gulug Stone for Kuja, but I did see something that caught my eye. I've been wanting to go check it out ever since I got back from the Iifa Tree."

"Just you?" she asked. Oeilvert was located on the Forgotten Continent. As far as she knew, their team was the first ones to have gone there in a long time. Even they didn't know all the different kind of monsters lurked there. The ones that they did know were deadly and ferocious. Zidane was strong, there was no denying that; but even he would be hard pressed to survive if he ran into too many monsters at once.

"Don't worry about it," he said reassuringly. "I'm taking Choco so that I can avoid all of the monsters. I'll be fine. Now, can I have those elixirs or not?"

Rolling her eyes, she got out of bed and reached under the bed. Elixirs were rare and she was not about to just leave them in plain sight. Finding what she was looking for, she pulled out a bag and handed it to Zidane. He opened it and nodded with thanks. Leaning forward, he kissed her gently on the lips.

"I'll be back before you know it," he whispered and ran from her room.

(Two weeks later)

"Queen Garnet, Lord Zidane is back," Steiner, Captain of the Knights of Pluto, announced. Without even bothering to say her thanks, she jumped off the throne and started to descend the castle to get to the front doors. Cursing her lack of speed, she altered her abilities and suddenly took off ten times faster with the aid of **Auto-Haste**. Time magic, such as **Haste**, **Slow**, or **Stop**, was some of the most unique magic that any mage could use. When she was in **haste**, time seemed to slow down for her while she moved at normal speed. However, to an observer, she seemed to move ten times faster than normal. With her change of abilities, she made it to the bottom in about fifteen seconds. With a flying leap, she jumped into Zidane's arms and gave him a big hug.

"I missed you so much!" she exclaimed.

"Me too," he echoed. Something wasn't right. Garnet pulled back slightly to stare at Zidane. He was a mess. His face was smudged with dirt, and he sported a few new scars. Most of his clothing was torn, leaving just his armor underneath. His eyes were tired and heavy. He looked exhausted.

"What happened to you?" Garnet asked shocked.

He replied distantly, "Nothing. Don't worry about me."

Sighing, he took a deep breath and walked to his room. For five days, he did not come out of his room; but whenever she went in to visit him, he seemed to be getting stronger with the help of **Auto-Regen**,magic that slowly worked its way through the body, healing any wound that it came across. On the sixth day, she found only an empty room awaiting her.

"Steiner, where is Zidane?" Garnet snapped.

Steiner replied with an odd look on his face, "He left last night, Queen Garnet. I thought he would have told you first."

"He didn't," she snapped. Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself. "Where did he say he was going?"

"He said that he was going to the Black Mage Village," Steiner responded nervously. Although he had sworn fealty to his queen and loved her with all his heart, he still feared her a little. True, now that he was the holder of Ragnarok, he had surpassed Beatrix as the greatest knight of all time, even with her Save the Queen. However, the queen held the power to summon eidolons, fearsome summon creatures that could destroy entire cities. He knew personally; he had seen it happen before.

"Order a search party to find him," Garnet ordered and headed for her room.

"At once, your highness," Steiner said and saluted her.

(Two days later)

"Still no sign of him?" Garnet asked frustrated.

Beatrix replied sadly, "None, my queen. It is as if he vanished off the face of the Earth."

"Keep searching," she replied and prepared to dismiss Beatrix.

"MY QUEEN!" Steiner shouted and came skidding to a stop just before the throne. Taking a moment to salute, he then dropped to his knees and tried to get more oxygen to his brain. The instant his brain began to function again, he stood up.

"My queen, I have terrible news," Steiner began. "One of patrol regiments, patrolling the Petrified Forest, has been completely slaughtered."

"Who dares to spill Alexandrian blood in our own kingdom?" Garnet thundered.

Steiner replied softly, "Zidane."

Utter silence met his words. Wordlessly, Steiner handed Garnet the bloodstained note that had been found at the battlefield:

_To the citizens of Alexandria and the rest of Gaia:_

_My name is Zidane Tribal, herald as hero among you. But, I no longer care for what you think of me. This slaughtered Alexandrian regiment is but a taste of what is about to happen to all of you. This is not blackmail; we have no demands. I, commander of the remaining troops of Terra, now declare war on all citizens of Gaia. Prepare to die for the atrocities your ancestors have committed._

_The Death Angel_

Garnet dropped the note that Zidane had left with shaking hands. There was no mistaking his handwriting. There was also no denying that he had the power to destroy the regiment he had slaughtered.

But one question still remained: Why? For what reason would he do this?

Garnet was determined to find out.

A/N: Well, there's the first chapter of this story. Hope you guys enjoy it. I'm sorry if the ending isn't that good; I got kind of tired from writing. If you like it, please review. If you don't, review and tell me what was wrong with it. I don't care about flames, so long as they help me. Thanks for reading. I'll post more whenever I get a chance.


	2. War and Foreshadowing

Chapter Two – War

Vivi's amber eyes dimmed slightly as he released control of the spell he had been using. With the last of his nearby opponents finally taken care of, he took a moment to survey the battlefield. On a battleground that stretched for miles upon end, the only thing Vivi could see was death. All his fallen foes had met their demise from his powerful magic and were now dead at his feet. Off in the distance, he saw a small group of Genomes fighting off a regiment from Lindblum and was doing rather well, despite the enormous difference in numbers. As he saw soldier after soldier fall from vicious wounds, he felt sorry for the soldiers.

"_How did it come to this?_" Vivi wondered.

Three months ago, Zidane had suddenly showed up at the Black Mage Village, asking his fellow genomes for help in an all-out war against all of Gaia. When Vivi heard about the shocking news, he immediately pleaded with Zidane to stop this insanity. That is…until he heard what Zidane had discovered within the bowels of Oeilvert: information that concerned Vivi and the rest of the Black Mages. Without even a second of hesitation, Vivi promised Zidane the aid of the Black Mages left in the village. While they too, were shocked at first, after they learned of the information that Zidane had divulged, they quickly joined Vivi and Zidane in the fight. The genomes, having already known about the information, readily agreed to help.

"_The genome warriors_," Vivi thought with a shudder. He did not shudder because he was scared of them. He shuddered because they represented everything he hated. They were superb warriors, some just as good as Zidane. However, because none of them were given souls save Zidane and Mikoto, they could kill without conscious, without guilt. Thus, they became the perfect killing machine as they were meant to have been.

"I've got you now!" someone screamed, startling Vivi and knocking him out of his musing. It was an Alexandrian soldier who was charging at him; she had her sword out and was ready to chop his head off. With a deft leap, he twisted out of the way while delivering a blow to the side of her head with his Mace of Zeus. However, Vivi's strength did not lie in his physical attacks, so his blow did little more than stun the female soldier. However, it did give him enough time to cast a spell.

Vivi mumbled the word of power while waving the Mace of Zeus, "**Death**!" Before his dazed opponent, a portal that reeked of death opened and through it came the figure of Death itself. With one enormous chop of its scythe, it instantly dispatched the Alexandrian soldier. With a look of horror, the soldier quickly vanished into air, her very atoms breaking apart at the seams. Vivi turned away as the last traces of the Alexandrian soldier vanished from the face of Gaia.

When death was the only thing that he saw for miles upon miles, he occasionally meant literally. Shaking his head in an attempt to rid his memory of the slain Alexandrian soldier, he walked up the nearby hill to survey the battle. Vivi, single-handily, had wiped out an entire half of the Gaian army they were facing. Two miles off, he saw his own people fighting off the rest of the army. They were quickly losing to Eiko's forces. Closing his eyes, he drew deep within his plethora of black magic spells and called forth the greatest of his most powerful spells. Casting his eyes to the blood-red sky, he uttered the word of power.

"**Doomsday**!"

"**Cura**," Eiko muttered and blew into her Angel Flute. The healing magic spewed out and instantly healed any of her allies within her general vicinity. With their bodies healed and moral boosted, they charged at the black mages. Eiko took one look at the odds and instantly knew that her forces would not win. The black mage army had gathered and was now combining all their magical strength to summon a colossal magical attack. She closed her eyes and prepared to summon a monster beyond belief.

"**Madeen**!"

An eidolon with a holy attack that was surpassed only by the now dead Alexander came forth once Eiko had shouted its name, which was also the word of power. A lion-like creature with an enormous wingspan, it created a sphere made of holy magic and trapped the black mage army within it. Madeen then hurled the ball into the ground, releasing all the holy magic at once, nearly obliterating the black mage army. However, the leader, the one who had been absorbing all the magic strength of his brothers, still stood. With his final, defiant breath, he boomed a word of power:

"**Meteor**!"

"Oh no!" Eiko whispered. The **Meteor** spell was immensely powerful and could easily demolish her forces at once. Reaching into her arsenal of white magic, she called forth the one white magic spell that was too powerful to heal; it had only the power to destroy. It was a spell that surpassed even incredible power of the **Meteor** spell. In fact, Vivi had once told her that it was on par with his **Flare** spell.

"**Holy**!" Eiko shrieked and blew into her flute. From the other end, a burst of white magic burst forward, so powerful that if used on any opponent, it would destroy instead of heal. However, this time, Eiko directed the spell at the incoming **Meteor** attack. The two insanely powerful magic spells collided and exploded with incredible force, knocking down everyone on the field.

"That was too close," Eiko mumbled, but she managed to smile. Her holy spell had, for once, helped instead of killed. Tiredly, she looked up to view the aftermath. She instantly noticed that the sky was still dark, even though the **Meteor** spell had ended. High up in the sky, past the atmosphere and into space, Eiko noticed a dark shape getting larger. A memory surfaced, and she knew what she was staring at.

"Vivi…you didn't!" she screamed. The object in space was the beginning formation of Vivi's ultimate spell: **Doomsday**. She had only seen its awesome power once, but she knew fully well what it was capable of. It was similar to the Meteor spell…in the way that a Hedgehog Pie was similar to a Grand Dragon! Her **Holy** spell would barely affect the thing's velocity, much less stop it!

"Run for it!" Eiko screamed at her troops. They stared at her, slightly puzzled, until one of them looked up and saw the enormous shadow magic spell. Then…chaos erupted. In the midst of the confusion, Eiko reached in her bag and pulled out an armlet. It was unique and was the only thing in the world at the moment that could save her life.

"We're all gonna die!" a soldier screamed as he ran by her. Eiko paid him no mind. Unless they somehow had the power to run a thousand miles in less then ten seconds, they were all going to die. Ignoring all the chaos, Eiko snapped off her Magic Armlet and replaced it with the Egoist's Armlet. She looked up, just in time to see **Doomsday** impact.

"_I know you're still alive, Eiko_," Vivi thought. "_I can still sense your life energy, weak as it is. I'll let you live for now. But know this: someday, you and I will meet on the battlefield as enemies, and one of us will not walk away._"

Vivi stared out at the battlefield, now completely decimated by the shadow magic of **Doomsday**. True, his black mage soldiers had been completely wiped out, but Eiko had lost many more troops than he did. Behind him, he heard the Genome soldiers gather in a circle. They had been outside the magic's destructive radius and suffered no damage. Within his mind, he set his **Auto-Regen** ability so that he would heal quicker from the fatigue of using so many spells, especially **Doomsday**.

"Let's go," Vivi ordered the genomes. They marched off, not even sparing a glance at the war torn battlefield.

A/N: Well, there's my update for the week/month/year. School is really taking up a lot of my time; so don't expect updates too often. This update was more of a battle scene then anything, but I did add in some plot details. I'm still working out most of the plot, so that's why there wasn't very much in this one. There will be a lot more plot in the next chapter, I promise.

Also, I reenacted a scene from one of the other Final Fantasies. See if you can figure out which one. (Btw…it's really obvious. Don't over analyze it.) I should add one more thing: characters will die in this story. So, if you really don't like your favorite characters dying, don't read it!

Wonwingangel: Thanks so much for the encouragement. I did go back and change up a bit of chapter 1.

Ravyn Crescent: Thanks! I'll keep using it.

Luki Dimension: Really? I won't let you down.

Digidudette: Keep reading and you'll find out.


	3. Fighting Old Allies

Chapter Three – Fighting Old Allies

"Finally," Garnet muttered. Stepping lightly off her ship, she looked and beheld Oeilvert. This was the place that Zidane had come and lost his sanity. Garnet had no love for the place, but she came to find out the reason that Zidane had declared war on Gaia. As she stepped up to the massive door, she gazed at it in wonder. Before, when they had still been married, Zidane had told her all about Oeilvert. Nowhere in his story did he say that the entire door was made by stone. Quickly, she put two and two together.

"Vivi!" she hissed. Vivi must have used his **Break** spell on the door and petrified it. But it mattered very little to Garnet. If she wanted something, she could be just as stubborn as Zidane.

"**Ifrit**!" she summoned. At once, the fire demon fell from the sky as he always did. But, noticing that there was no enemy, Ifrit turned to glance at her. Garnet swore that she saw confusion in the eidolon's eyes. She gestured at the door.

"Break it down."

Understanding now, the eidolon turned to the door and smashed it apart with one, powerful punch. Its job done, the eidolon disappeared to wherever eidolons went when they weren't summoned. When the dust cleared, Garnet started forward, but she was only able to take one step before forced to stop again. There, leaning against the ruined frame of the door, stood Zidane. He had his Ultima Weapon out, but he didn't have it up.

"I thought you would never show up," he said with his usual playful smile. Garnet held up her Whale Whisker to defend herself.

"You know what I come here for, Zidane," she said. "So move, unless you want my eidolons to move you."

"Empty threat, Garnet," Zidane said unconcernedly. "Your magic cannot pass into Oeilvert. The moment magic passes beyond where the door had been, it is instantly contained and destroyed. If a mage walks in here, then their magic is contained in their bodies and not let out."

"So come out here and fight me one on one," Garnet challenged Zidane. "Unless you're no longer a man as well."

"I am no longer a man," Zidane muttered, walking away from the entrance of Oeilvert and walking towards. "I am a god. And now, you will die!" He stopped about a hundred feet before her.

The two former lovers glared long and hard at each other, their emotions churning within them. Then without warning, both of them tranced! Zidane brought forward his Ultima Weapon into an attacking position, and Garnet steadied her Whale Whisker.

"Let's dance," they both shouted and lunged towards each other.

Steiner gasped for breath; his energy was spent after fighting Genome after Genome. Though none of them were nearly as good as Zidane, they possessed incredible strength and stamina, making each one a very deadly fighter. However, the last wave had just been beaten away from the gate of Lindblum, giving the defenders a chance to breath. Wearily, Steiner extracted a hi-potion from his diminishing supply and gulped it down. Instantly, the healing medicine cured his wounds and replenished a small amount of his sapped energy. Having dealt with himself, he began to tend to his comrades.

Steiner and the rest of the Pluto Knights had been stationed at Lindblum with a hundred or so female Alexandrian soldiers. As backup, the Lindblum soldiers inside the massive city. Before this current battle, they had fought several small skirmishes, but the enemy seemed to only fight halfheartedly and was easily driven back. But, Steiner understood what they were doing. Zidane was testing the forces that protected Lindblum; he was testing to see if he stood a chance of capturing a very key city. Despite being a thief and a very young one at that, Zidane was an excellent strategist. He had proved it during their travels. And to think that Steiner had once trusted him!

The Alexandrian forces had become confident and arrogant. The only thing that had prevented their demise today was the arrival of one person; she was the greatest female general that had ever walked in Alexandria: Beatrix. Her unexpected arrival to check up on them had been their saving grace.

Now he watched as the one-eyed general, the love of his life, walked through the decimated troops, healing those who needed it and offering praise and advice to depressed soldiers. Her skills as a white mage were impressive; she did not have as many spells as Garnet or Eiko, but in battle, she was very helpful. Beatrix noticed his gaze and walked calmly over to him. Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she smiled at him.

"Impressive work, Captain," she said with a smile. "I saw some of your swordplay from over there." She gestured to a place further down the line. "I have to admit, some of your skills have improved to the point that they are better than mine. Half of these soldiers would not be here had you been missing."

Steiner replied evenly, "Beatrix, do not put yourself down so hard. If half of these soldiers are still here because of me, then the other half and the entire city are still standing because of you."

Steiner received another smile for his effort. He loved her with all his heart, but her smile is what attracted him in the first place. That and her incredible sword skills. But then, the smile became a frown, and Steiner involuntarily felt himself tense up. Even though many years had passed, he had still not forgotten the time that their blades had been drawn _against_ each other. This had been years back, when Beatrix was still blinded to the Queen's greed. Steiner and the other had long since forgiven her, but he still involuntarily flinched whenever she frowned. However, this time, he noticed that she was not frowning at him but rather at the bodies of the dead Genomes.

"What is it, Beatrix?" Steiner asked, concern in his voice.

Beatrix looked at him with worry evident in her eyes. "Cid was watching the battle in his airship. He just reported that the retreating Genomes were heading from Pinnacle Rocks. He couldn't get closer because Black Mages would fire spells at his ship that could tear it apart."

"But I do not understand why that troubles you," Steiner said. "Now that we know where their temporary HQ (A/N: headquarters) is, we can strike while they are weak."

"But that isn't the disturbing part," Beatrix muttered. "Cid said that he saw two figures jump out of the quarry when the Genomes got close to Pinnacle Rocks. You know what that means!"

Unfortunately, Steiner did know what that meant. Freya and Fratley must have sided with Zidane and Vivi. Then again, Steiner wasn't that surprised. At the onset of the war, Garnet had pleaded with different nations and races for their help, including Burmecia. However, the Burmecians wanted nothing to do with the war; they only wanted to rebuild their destroyed home. Garnet, in her anger, had ordered that if any soldier found a Bumecian, be it a messenger, a merchant, or a soldier, the Burmecian would be killed on the spot. Garnet couldn't risk having a spy of Zidane's slip into Alexandria or Lindblum. Many innocent Burmecians who had nothing to do with Zidane or the war were killed because of Garnet's orders. The remaining Burmecians now harbored a deep resentment towards Alexandria and Lindblum. The old feelings that had been buried with the death of the former Queen were resurfacing. But that wasn't the worst thing about the situation. If Burmecia had sided with Zidane, then that meant that Zidane had a footing on the Mist Continent!

"They're coming again!"

Steiner and Beatrix whipped around to see that the Genomes were advancing again. But, the sound of the engines caught their attention. Looking up, they saw a crude ship that the Genome soldiers must have constructed. Though nowhere near as advanced as the Invincible, they could carry hundreds of soldiers at once. But this time, the ship was carrying only two warriors. From hundreds of feet above the ground, they leaped off the side towards the ground. Suddenly, voices could be heard from the two descending warriors.

A female's voice shouted, "**Cherry Blossoms**!"

A male's voice uttered, "**Dragon's Crest**!"

An enormous spear suddenly shot through the sky to land in the midst of the Alexandrian soldiers. The spear hit no one, and everyone gathered around it to stare at it curiously. Steiner opened his mouth to warn them, but it was too late. Cherry Blossoms swiftly enveloped the soldiers, exploding and killing anything they touched. But, Steiner had much important worries to be concerned about.

"Steiner, what is this devilry?" Beatrix whispered, fear in her voice. Steiner followed his gaze to the ground, and to his horror, found himself standing on the giant seal of Burmecia, as if a god had reached down and drawn it beneath their feet. He wanted to run, but he was bound within the seal by the unique magic of the Dragon Knights. He steeled himself for the inevitable finish to the spell. Like he had witnessed so many times in the past, the seal suddenly became three-dimensional and the dragon imprinted on the seal reared its head up and snapped its jaws around the two knights!

Pain ripped through Steiner like a knife; he could feel the fury and agony of every single dragon that Fratley had ever vanquished. The spell ended the moment the dragon had snapped its jaws shut, but the pain did not. It last a little while longer, and when Steiner could finally see through the pain, he saw two pairs of feet standing before him. Looking further upward, he saw the faces of Freya and Fratley: two of the greatest Dragon Knights that had ever been born.

"**Cura**!" Beatrix hissed through the pain. White magic countered the pain that had been engulfing Steiner, and he felt himself breathe for the first time since the pain begin. Beatrix repeated the spell, and Steiner was able to get to his knees.

Freya and Fratley's attack had taken Steiner by complete surprise; he had not even had enough time to pull out the Ragnarok. Now, he quickly drew it and held it before him. To his left, Beatrix did the same with her Save the Queen. Before him, Freya stood ready with her Dragon's Hair Spear. Fratley halted before Beatrix, his spear up and dangerous.

"Do you remember me?" he asked Beatrix emotionlessly.

Beatrix snarled, "How could I forget? You were the only person that I ever had to actually fight. You were the first and last warrior that actually stood a chance of endangering my life."

"Do you remember what you said to me then?" Fratley asked again, still without the slightest trace of emotion in his voice.

"Why don't you attack me? Does fear hold you back?" Beatrix replied, easily recalling this memory.

"What was my reply?" Fratley inquired. When Beatrix did not respond, he replied for her. Without warning, he lifted his head so that all could see his eyes, filled with fire. Fratley thundered, "I said to you, 'Let fear propel you forward!'"

As one, Fratley, Freya, and the Genome leaped towards us. In response, Steiner raised his sword and prepared to use one of his lesser-used knight skills.

"**CHARGE**!" Steiner bellowed. Beatrix and Steiner hurdled towards Fratley and Freya, while their two forces collided in battle once more. And so the blood ran…

A/N: Whew, that took me a good few hours. Well, I'm sorry for the delay but school really is trying to send me to an early grave. I've been enjoying winter break to the max, and then I realized that I haven't written anything in a while. So now, with my last few days of winter break dwindling, I present to you the third chapter! The plot has finally been hammered out, so I hope you will keep reading to find out the reason.

Tacofoolio: Yes you got it right. The scene was FF7: Meteor vs. Holy. Glad you saw it. You're the only person who did. Hope you like this chapter as well.

Lost Mercenary: So it continues…

Ravyn Crescent: Glad you like it. Keep reviewing!

Digidudette: Finally! Someone who understand what I'm going through!

Keep reviewing!


	4. 1st Loss

All right and here is the next chapter for your enjoyment. However, before that, I decided to put my replies to your reviews in the beginning instead of at the end this time. To tell you guys the truth, I was kind of hoping for more reviews than this. But maybe the reviews always start out slow and then cumulate later on? We'll see, but I would definitely be more motivated to write more if I had more people encouraging me. But, I'm hoping to hit 25 reviews by the 5th chapter. If I don't, I'm probably not going to get chapters out very often. Just a hint!

**DreamCherry66** – I'm impressed. You did sort of manage to guess what happens between Garnet and Zidane. I hope you like this chapter too.

**Ravyn Crescent** – You are currently my favorite reader, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I'm glad you like my story so much, and I hope the others do as well.

**Wonwingangel** – You forgot the rest of the team! I haven't gotten to all of them yet. Almost all the characters in FF9 will make an appearance, though a few of them will die. I hope you do keep reading, and the plot will soon be revealed. (For the moment, I'm just drawing people into the story with a tidbit of info on the plot and a lot of action.) To answer your questions, Garnet ordered the death of any Burmecian that was found in Alexandrian territory. I didn't mean that she marched troops to Burmecia and slaughtered them all. Sorry about the confusion. But, in a war, she has to prevent spies from learning her plans. She's also kinda naïve, so I just made it so that her outlook is, "Either you're with me or against me." She's not evil or anything, just way too innocent. (You must be thinking that innocent people don't order others dead, but hey.) To answer your second question, I kind of dozed off at the end and wrote it in first person by accident. I changed it though, so you can go back and reread it.

**Kd Zeal** – Thanks for the review, and I hope you like this chapter too.

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Chapter Four – Fight for your life!

"This is where you end, Garnet!" Zidane shouted and launched forward from his stance, charging her head on. Garnet braced herself and met the attack with her impressive defensive skills. Back when Zidane had first kidnapped her, her defensive skills were pathetic and her combat experience nonexistent. Zidane had changed that. Whenever they weren't battling monsters or saving the world from destruction, Zidane had sparred intensely with her. It didn't take long for her defense to become the highest on their team. Now, with Trance giving her increased strength, her defense would be incredible. She only hoped that it was enough to stop Zidane from killing her.

Zidane's blows were powerful and accurate and with his Ultima Weapon and Trance on his side as well, he was and still remained, the strongest member of their original team. If Garnet had used any different weapon, the third blow would have broken it long ago. But she was armed with the Whale Whisker, a powerful staff with enormous magical capabilities. She doubted that even Steiner's **Weapon Break** could shatter her Whale Whisker.

"Damn it!" she heard Zidane mutter. "Just one opening! That's all I need!"

Garnet smiled slightly in spite of herself. Zidane always talked to himself, whether in battle or in his sleep. Some things would never change. But his one opening would be denied. Garnet would not allow herself to make a mistake. But soon, that vow was forgotten. As blow upon blow rained down upon her, she felt herself weaken with each successive attack. Even if her Whale Whisker was indestructible, it didn't amount to much if her arms lacked the strength to defend herself.

"**WHAT'S THAT!?**" Zidane shouted, gesturing in the sky with his free hand. Up in the sky behind her, Garnet could feel the enormous presence of…something. The temptation to look was incredible. Even if he didn't have the aid of his unique thief magic, his acting was still incredible.

"_Don't look_!" Garnet's mind screamed at herself. She knew that there was nothing there; after all, she had seen Zidane use this skill numerous times so that he could attack his opponents in the back. But, in the end, the temptation to look was far too great, and she whirled around to face…nothing.

"Die!" Zidane screamed and pain ripped through her back as his Ultima Weapon scored a lethal strike on her back. She spun around to face him, only to have her Whale Whisker knocked out of her hands as his blow knocked her to the ground. Zidane lunged forward for a killing stroke. Garnet could only raise her right hand to defend herself.

"_Like that's going to do anything_," Zidane thought to himself.

"**Blind**!" Garnet shrieked. The word of power instantly took affect, and Zidane's world suddenly became black. His Ultima Weapon fell from his grasp as he fell on one knee, one hand over his face and one hand searching for the counter medicine. As he struggled to find some Eye Drops, Garnet picked herself up and grabbed her Whale Whisker.

"**Curaga**," she hissed through gritted teeth. The healing magic instantly closed the wound on her back, leaving only a scar behind. She would have to deal with the rip in her clothes later. Zidane had, by this time, finally found the Eye Drops and quickly used them to rid himself of the **Blind** spell. He looked up…just in time to see Garnet's Whale Whisker slam hard into his face. He fell in a heap on the ground, not quite unconscious but very dazed.

Garnet stepped away from Zidane's body and began to gather her magic strength. On the ground, Zidane regained the ability to think and picked himself slowly off the ground. He looked over at Garnet, once again, just in time to hear her voice shout the name that would be his demise.

"**Bahamut**!" Garnet shouted, her trance state calling forth the Eidolon itself, instead of just its attack. High, high above her, an enormous vortex appeared and if anybody had been standing directly beneath it, that person would have been able to see Bahamut's, the Dragon King, home. Zidane looked upwards, just in time to see an enormous pair of wings unfold from the dragon's body as Bahamut plummeted towards him. Zidane braced himself for the oncoming attack.

"Bahamut!" Garnet cried, "Attack!"

"This…is gonna hurt," Zidane whimpered slightly and fell back into a defensive stance. The next few minutes were nothing more than blurs of vision for Zidane. Bahamut opened his massive mouth and let loose a series of scorching fireballs. Zidane ran around in a million different directions, trying desperately to dodge the blazing attacks. Garnet was cheering for her dragon on the sidelines. And then, after what seemed like an eternity of jumping, running, and dodging for his life, Zidane slipped up and took a fireball straight in the chest. He was blasted fifty feet away and landed hard on the ground.

"Yes!" Garnet screamed, her face flushed with victory. "Now, finish him with your **Mega Flare**!"

Bahamut stopped his current attack and began hovering in the air above the fallen warrior, all the while, gathering energy for his ultimate attack. Down on the ground, Zidane pulled himself onto one knee. He was alive…but just barely. The fireball, though it wasn't Bahamut's greatest attack by a long shot, nevertheless had a powerful punch, and he was lucky to still be conscious. Eyeing the dragon above him, he estimated that he still had around ten seconds before Bahamut would launch its attack. Within his mind, he changed his normal abilities to **Auto-Haste** and **Auto-Regen**. As his strength quickly returned, he waited for his opportunity to strike. It came soon enough.

------------------------------

Freya found her spear thrust parried by Steiner again as their smaller battle raged on, completely oblivious to the much larger battle going on around them. In every direction, one could see the Gaian soldiers battling with the Genome soldiers. Scores of them already lay dead on the ground, but the battle wouldn't stop until one side was completely destroyed.

"**Shock**!" Steiner shouted and released the knight skill from his sword. Freya nimbly dodged the powerful attack, and it cut a great channel in the masses of the troops behind her.

"**Lancer**!" she countered and suddenly surged forward with a huge burst of energy. Her spear was raised perfectly to gut Steiner, but he deflected it with a twist of his sword. Now, the two warriors were inches apart from each other. The only thing stopping their weapons from slicing off the other's head was the other's weapon. The two stood at a draw, both trying to get an opening to use their weapons.

"**Thunder Slash**!" Steiner suddenly hissed and lightning coursed through his sword. As fast as Freya was, she was no match against the speed of lightning. The attack threw her backwards by twenty feet. She was up in a flash; the attack had barely hurt, thanks to the **Reis's Wind** spell that she had cast earlier. The two warriors took a moment to glare at each other as they assessed their wounds.

"Steiner! The primary target! Kill him!"

Steiner turned around to find himself face to face with three Genomes. All three were carrying daggers, and all three looked as if they knew how to use them. They didn't even give him a moment to prepare for their assault. The Genomes shot forward simultaneous, coordinated and deadly. However, that didn't even faze Steiner. He waited until they were in range, and then he leaped towards them!

"**Climhazzard**!" Steiner yelled and the physical energy contained in his sword blasted the three Genomes to nothingness. He turned back with a grin to face Freya. She wasn't there.

"What the hell?" Steiner said aloud. Freya was a Dragon Knight of Burmecia. Her honor would not allow her to flee the battle. No one else on the battlefield was even a match for her, save Beatrix, so she wouldn't just run off to fight someone else. Where would she be? The answer hit him a second later…literally.

Freya fell back to Earth after her insanely high jump. She had been planning to use her Jump attack since the beginning of the fight, but Steiner would have simply blown her out of the air with his **Shock** attack. The three Genomes, stupid as they were, gave her the perfect distraction. Now, falling back to Earth with the speed of a bullet, she drew back her hand and let fly with her spear. On the ground below her, she saw Steiner look up, but it was already far too late. The spear hit home, deep in Steiner's chest. Freya smashed into Steiner a moment later, sending his body to the ground and using it to absorb most of her velocity; she yanked her spear out of his chest and leaped backwards. Steiner tried to get up, but he didn't seem to realize that his body had already given up on him. He lifted his head to gaze at Freya one last time, before his head fell back down…and stayed down.

------------------------------

"Destroy him!" Garnet screamed at Bahamut. The dragon king roared in agreement and opened its massive mouth. Countless amounts of energy began to condense into a ball in Bahamut's mouth, the beginning stages of its ultimate attack. Zidane, almost completely healed by his **Auto-Regen** ability, tensed up and prepared for his counter-attack.

"Bahamut!" Garnet thundered. "**Mega Flare**!"

"Now," Zidane hissed.

The dragon king opened his mouth and let forth a beam of massive destruction. It completely incinerated everything it touched. Bahamut's attack lanced towards Zidane, who stood up to face the attack head on! He didn't even have his Ultima Weapon up to defend himself with!

Time slowed for Garnet as she watched the attack bear down on the one she had once loved. Half of her wanted to scream at him to get out of the way. The other half craved his destruction. Even with Bahamut's **Mega Flare** coming straight for him, Zidane did not seem particularly worried. Instead, he actually looked over his shoulder at her and grinned. That was the last thing she was of him before the Mega Flare attack completely engulfed him.

"So it was my eidolon that killed him," Garnet murmured. "How ironic. He was the one that gave me the strength to use my eidolons, and I kill him with the power that he helped me to harness."

Bahamut ended his attack and roared with victory. Garnet looked up to watch one of her greatest eidolons soar around in joyous flight over killing her foe. The vortex that led to Bahamut's home opened again, and Bahamut slowly began to fly towards it. As she lowered her gaze from her dragon, she spotted a light below Bahamut. Suddenly, the light exploded outward, lighting up everything within a thirty-meter radius. She would have recognized that particular shade of pink anywhere.

"Bahamut, look out!" Garnet screamed, but it was far too late.

"**Grand Lethal**!" Zidane bellowed. Zidane's most powerful Dyne attack shot towards Bahamut with speed attainable only by light. The attack came in the form of a million streaks of deadly light that simply sheared through everything they hit…including Bahamut. The dragon king roared in agony, but he could only take five streaks of light before disappearing in defeat. But Garnet did not have time to grieve over her defeated eidolon. Zidane, despite everything Garnet could throw at him, was still alive.

By now, both of their Trance states had worn off, leaving both tired and incapable of fighting well. Garnet brought forth her Whale Whisker and prepared to battle once more. But she discovered that she didn't need to defend herself. The moment Zidane's Trance wore off, he collapsed to the ground, unconscious. He did not so much as twitch. Not even his tailed moved.

However, Garnet had already been tricked once today, and she was determined not to be fooled again. She walked towards him slowly and cautiously. When she was within reach, she prodded him gently with her Whale Whisker. He did not budge.

"Thank goodness," Garnet breathed and turned around…only to come face to face with Zidane! Garnet screamed and fell backwards onto Zidane. Garnet suddenly felt very confused.

"What the–?" Garnet stammered, but her sentence was cut short as everything suddenly made sense. Garnet looked up to see Mikoto, not Zidane, standing before. She was still the same as the last time Garnet had seen her. She still wore her bright flashy clothes. Her body size, hair, eyes, and tail were almost identical to Zidane, which is why she had mistaken Mikoto as Zidane the first time she saw her. Her face was still emotionless, though Garnet thought her eyes looked a little older.

"Quite a show you guys put on," Mikoto commented. "I'm surprised that you were able to hurt Zidane so badly, though he seems to have gotten you pretty well."

"Are you here to finish the job?" Garnet snarled.

Mikoto replied, "Of course not. I'd never rob Zidane of his destiny."

"What?" Garnet asked, shocked.

"Oops, did I say that?" Mikoto said sarcastically. Mikoto walked past Garnet to kneel by Zidane's head. Garnet took this chance to roll away and get to her feet, her Whale Whisker at the ready. However, Mikoto did not seem to notice. She checked Zidane's pulse and nodded slightly. Then, with astounding ease, she picked Zidane up and hefted him onto her shoulder like a rag doll.

"You got lucky today, Garnet," Mikoto said emotionlessly. "But be sure, the last sight you will ever see will be my brother with his sword poised to kill." And with her ultimatum delivered, Mikoto closed her eyes and began to concentrate.

"**Teleport**!" Mikoto cried, and she and Zidane vanished from view. Garnet, not trusting her eyes, closed her eyes and concentrated slightly.

"**Scan**."

Information about her surroundings filled her mind. Sifting through it carefully, she learned that Mikoto had seriously disappeared from the area. Blinking her eyes to clear her mind, she walked carefully into Oeilvert.

------------------------------

"_Our job here is done_," Freya thought. She gazed thoughtfully at the fallen body of Steiner. He had proved a greater challenge then she would have ever imagined. If all of Garnet's allies turn out like this, then the war would turn very bloody indeed.

"Fratley!" Freya called. He glanced over at her, nodded, and then jumped away from Beatrix. The Alexandrian general was caught off guard and almost fell on her face. She looked at Fratley and Freya, slightly confused, until she noticed the female Burmecian Dragon Knight standing over the corpse of Steiner. Within a millisecond, Beatrix had sheathed her Save the Queen and was at Steiner's side. Freya was shocked at her speed.

"Incredible!" Freya whispered, but Beatrix did not seem to hear her, though they were only a foot apart. She was kneeling besides Steiner, constantly casting **Full-Life** on her beloved. Normally, healing magic, such as **Cure**, **Cura**, and **Curaga**, is capable of healing an injured person. But, sometimes, when an unconscious soldier is on death's doorstop, no amount of healing magic can heal them in time to prevent death. This is when Life magic is used. Life magic is peculiar in that it can bring a soldier that is an inch away from death back to "life", but it can only work when the soldier is unconscious. Unlike healing magic, there are only two forms of Life magic: **Life** and **Full-Life**. **Life** restores a warrior's health partially, while **Full-Life** restores all of a warrior's health. Eiko and Beatrix are two of the very few mages that know how to use **Full-Life**.

"No," Beatrix sobbed, giving up on casting **Full-Life** and now simply clutching Steiner's broken body. Her tears cut channels through the dirt on her face and her entire body shook with grief. Fratley walked over to the two female warriors and stood beside Freya. Slowly, Fratley extended his spear until its tip touched Beatrix's throat. The tears did not stop, but her eyes filled with anger instead of sadness.

"Pass this message to Garnet," Freya instructed Beatrix. "Steiner has fallen and the rest of you will follow. The end of Gaia and its inhabitants draws near. All of you will soon die."

"Freya. Fratley. Is it done?" a gruff voice asked.

Freya glanced over her shoulder in surprise to see Amarent. The warrior monk was dressed exactly the same; he was even armed with his most powerful weapons: his Duel Claws. His red hair covered his eyes, but left the rest of his face uncovered.

"Why are you here, Amarent?" Fratley asked.

Amarent replied, "Zidane fought with Garnet at Oeilvert like he said he was going to do. He says that Garnet is still as dangerous as ever. She managed to hurt him pretty bad, but he dealt out his fair share of damage to her. Mikoto teleported him back to the Black Mage Village to get healed up. He wants a full report from you two when you get back."

"That's fine," Freya said and jumped high into the air and disappearing among the clouds. Fratley and Amarent watched her sail away before turning back to the female general of Alexandria. Beatrix was kneeling besides the fallen Steiner, but her Save the Queen was still sheathed.

"What are you waiting for?" Beatrix hissed. "Kill me as well, so that I may join my beloved in death."

"When we fought, all those long years ago, I would have been glad to pierce your heart with my lance," Fratley muttered. He pulled back his lance. "Back then, you were the greatest swordsman in all the lands, and all warriors spoke your name with respect and fear. But now, you've been reduced to nothing. You aren't worth dying upon my spear. I will show you mercy and let you live. But to you, living is worse than dying, isn't it? It is your fault for not fighting better and giving me a reason to kill you. You're no danger to us now."

Fratley turned away and jumped in the same direction. Soon, he was gone as well. Amarent glanced at the shocked Beatrix before turning to the Genomes that were left.

"Retreat back to Pinnacle Rocks where you will await pick-up!" Amarent bellowed, his voice heard over the sounds of battle. The Genomes soon beat a hasty retreat, but they left with hundreds of soldiers dead in their wake.

"You're not taking Lindblum?" Beatrix whispered.

Amarent snorted, "Zidane could take over Lindblum anytime he wanted. He sent us here to kill the best defender that Garnet had. Now that he is dead, we have no reason to be here, for the moment."

"**Flee**!" Amarent muttered under his breath. Blinding lights appeared and forced everyone to look away for fear of being blinded. Under the cover of this powerful distraction, Amarent slipped away unnoticed.

"Damn them!" Beatrix cried when she looked and saw that all three were gone. She stood up and pulled out her Save the Queen. Holding the blade parallel to the ground, she held the sword up to the sky, as if sacrificing it to the gods.

"I swear, upon Princess Garnet and the grave of my husband Steiner, I will not die until I destroy Zidane and his allies and armies!"


	5. Gods?

You guys…thank you all so much. I asked for 25 reviews by the 5th chapter, and I already have 25! (That doesn't mean don't review anymore!) It was a huge boost for my inspiration and self-esteem. However, school has almost succeeded in killing me, so that's my excuse for not updating for a long while. (What am I gonna do when I get to college?") Ah well, I've got it out now, that's all that matters, right? So…here is what you have all been waiting for…insight into the true plot behind this story!

Wonwingangel – Thanks for the review as always. I appreciate the compliment on fight scenes. As I promised everyone, there will be much more plot development in this chapter. But you have to read to find out. The length of your review did make me want to write, but school wanted to kill me. My bad… 

**Tacofoolio** – Thanks for the advice. I do hope you keep reading this story.

**Kingpin** – I'm glad you like it. Keep reading!

**Lightwingdragon** – First of all, I have to say: awesome name! The story had no explication for the randomness of the characters because I didn't exactly have a plot planned out. In my mind, I had Zidane attacking Gaia for a reason and that was it. But I think I've got it now. So read on to find your explanation.

**Cogito** **Ergo** **Sum** – Sorry about Amarant's name. They aren't in character? What do you mean?

**Ravyn Crescent** – As I said before, you are my favorite reviewer. Thanks for telling everyone about the story.

**Eika** – Thanks much for the review!

**Chosenoneknuckles** – Here is some of the plot.

Chapter Five – Gods?

Garnet slowly walked through Oeilvert, her Whale Whisker at the ready. However, she didn't meet a single monster as she walked through the monstrous halls of Oeilvert. The lack of monsters unnerved her, and she constantly felt as if a pair of eyes was watching her back. However, when she turned around, there was nothing. But the moment she turned her back, she felt the gaze again.

"**Protect**," she muttered under breath. Instantly, the protective magic went into action around her. The invisible barrier would lessen the damage that a physical attack would have on her. If the thing watching her attacked her from behind, the **Protect** would save her life. Feeling somewhat protected, Garnet proceeded on. However, the gaze on her back did not fade away…

"I'm lost!" Garnet wailed some time later. She had been wandering around for sometime, looking for some kind of information center or something that could tell her why Zidane had gone crazy. However, the only thing she had managed to discover was that she was lost. Her newest path had led her to a dead-end: a narrow pathway that led to a platform over nothingness. Above her, fog shrouded her view. Feeling depressed, she fell to her knees on the platform.

"What do I do now?" she cried, feeling despondent. "How am I supposed to save Gaia and rescue Zidane if I can't even manage to get around in this place?"

"Rescue the god?" a deep voice boomed from above her. "How do you propose to do that?"

Garnet screamed and started blabbering about disembodied voices and other nonsense. It took a few minutes before she ran out of things to say and regained control. When she finally did, she looked around for the voice but didn't have to look far. High, high above her, were a hundred stone faces that Garnet had thought were carved into the very stone. However, one of the faces now jutted out and had turned bright orange.

"What…are you?" Garnet stammered. She had a feeling that her **Protect** spell wouldn't do much if this…thing…were to attack her. If it could attack her, that is.

"I was created by the ancient Terrans that escaped from the incredible devastation of their planet. I was built to record their lost heritage and past, so that future Terrans would not forget their pasts and about the power of the Gods."

"Wait a second," Garnet interrupted. "If you were built by ancient Terrans, why do you speak in Gaian?"

"One unique ability of any Terran is that the moment one enters a room, the Terran translates his language into the language that you are most used to hearing. You are hearing me speak in Gaian because there is a Terran in this room."

"**Scan**!" Garnet hissed. Information poured into her head about her surroundings. She sifted through it quickly, searching for the name of the person that was there that she didn't know about. There! In the dark stood…

"Oh ho! Me finally caught up to you!"

"Quina!" Garnet breathed in relief. "What are you doing here? And why can you translate Terran?"

"Steiner send me to guard you!" Quina said earnestly, nodding his/her head up and down rapidly. "Me sneak on ship, but me fall asleep, so I no help you in fight with Zidane. However, me watch your back while you get lost in Oeilvert!"

"So that explains the eyes on my back," Garnet muttered. "But how can you translate Terran? You don't have any Terran blood, do you?"

"No…" Quina said hesitantly. S/he seemed rather embarrassed. "Back on Terra, me was hungry. So…me eat a Terran. But, no taste good."

"You ate a Terran?" Garnet exclaimed. "That must be it. You inherit the abilities of the foes you eat. You must have inherited a Terran's ability to translate the Terran language."

"Indeed," the giant stone face above her said.

"Anyways," Garnet interrupted, turning back to the stone face. "You mentioned Zidane being a god? That's not possible. He's a mortal; he bleeds! Gods don't bleed!"

The face replied, "Within your own Gaian mythology, you are correct. However, though I may sound like I am speaking Gaian, I speak of the history of the ancient Terrans. And in Terran history, a god can die."

"What is a god in Terran culture?" Garnet questioned.

"A being of incredible power," the face answered. "One that surpasses even the elites within the Terran military."

"Terra had a military?" Garnet asked, slightly surprised. "I thought they were rather peaceful."

"Terra built the Invincible," the face reminded her. "Yes, the Terrans were inclined towards peace, but they kept a military to defend themselves with. Within the military, a select few, the very best of the best, were singled out for the most important missions. They were called elites by the Terran citizens."

"And a god surpasses these elites in skill?" Garnet inquired.

The face boomed, "Not just in skill. But also in strength, endurance, intelligence, and special talents. Of all the unique talents found upon Terra, two were held higher than all others: Dyne and Pathos. The one that wielded Dyne and the other that held Pathos…they were called the gods."

"Dyne?" Garnet echoed. Visions of Zidane's awesome Trance maneuvers surfaced. "Zidane has the power of Dyne."

"Yes, he does," the face said. "The power of Dyne is the power to destroy and vanquish all life. That is why he is called the God, or Angel, of Death."

Garnet asked fearfully, "And the power of Pathos? What can the wielder of Pathos do?"

"The power of Pathos is the counter to Dyne. The one who wields Pathos can undo the damage done by Dyne. The power of Pathos gave the wielder the name God, or Angel, of Life."

"Where can I find this God of Life?" Garnet asked earnestly. If this person could counter Zidane's powerful dyne techniques, maybe he could also cure Zidane of his madness.

The face replied, "There is another reason why the gods are called gods. When a normal Terran's soul is released from the body, it returns to the planet and awaits its next carrier. However, the souls of the two gods are unique. While the souls wait in the planet, they absorb the information of the planet. And when the body is finally conceived, the soul reenters it. However, if the soul were allowed to retain all the information that it learned while it was waiting in the planet, it would have knowledge of incredible powers and cause chaos to the world. Therefore, fate played its hand here. Always, the two gods suffer a horrible accident, and they forget much of the information they learned. The God of Life has not overcome the barrier of fate. He/she is still oblivious to what he/she really is. You cannot find the God of Life, because the God of Life doesn't even know that he/she really is the God. However, it seems this time, the God of Death has overcome fate's barrier."

"You mean Zidane knows all the secrets of the planet!" Garnet exclaimed.

"Yes," the face replied solemnly. "However, he received all the information at once the moment he overcame fate. Therefore, he has not had enough time to understand it all. So, he knows the secrets, but he doesn't know how to use them. Yet…"

"Yet," Garnet muttered. "So when he does…"

"He will annihilate Gaia," the face finished for her.

"Report," Zidane snapped from the bed. He was still wrapped in bandages from his fight with Garnet, but his Auto-Regen spell was helping his health greatly. Still, without the aid of a White Mage, Zidane would have to actually use time to let his wounds heal. Gathered around his bedside were Vivi, Freya, Fratley, Mikoto and Amarant.

"Steiner is dead," Freya replied. "Lindblum's defenses have been shattered and are in complete disarray. Beatrix is the only one that might pose a problem."

Zidane sighed heavily, and Vivi could not tell if he was sighing in relief or sadness. Every since his battle with Garnet, Zidane had been rather quiet. Whenever Vivi checked up on Zidane, he was either staring out the window in thought with his tail twitching or sleeping heavily.

"Zidane," Vivi said hesitantly. His best friend turned towards him, his face completely emotionless. "When will this war end? When can we stop hurting those that were once our friends?"

"Vivi," Zidane whispered. "The war that has engulfed Gaia cannot stop until I am sure that I no longer need to fear for my life. I will stop fighting when I win this war."

"When will that be?" Vivi questioned.

"I tell you as soon as I know," Zidane said quietly.

"_I will stop when I kill the God of Life! I don't know who it is. I only know that it is someone that is on Garnet's side. It wasn't Steiner. I would know if the other God were dead. The war must go on. The God of Life is the only one that poses a threat to me."_

Hours had passed, but Garnet had not given up. She was determined to get every ounce of information out of this record information as she could. Finally, the stone face had no more answers.

"You've answered all my questions," Garnet muttered. "All of them except one. Why would Zidane attack Gaia? Why would he declare war against the people that he loved?"

"I have no answer to that," the face replied. "The only way to find that answer…is to ask him personally."


	6. New Revelations

Whoo…I'm getting more reviews! That's got to be a good thing. Hopefully you guys are enjoying this story as much as I enjoy writing it. I know my updates are really random and very infrequent, but school is putting a lot of pressure on me. They say Junior year is the hardest, and now I know why. So anyways, my reply to the reviewers! Oh yea…I did notice that I accidentally wrote Garnet using magic, and I do apologize for that. If I have some time, I'll go back and fix it.

**Emzies and Mog** – A new reviewer! Awesome! Hmm…I'm glad you like the story so much.

**Wonwingangel** – Hmm…that thing with the story isn't my fault. On my version, there is a separator, but I guess it didn't carry over to the Internet. Blame fanfiction for that one. College is way worse? There goes my dream of an easy four years…sigh As for the one question that everyone wants to know, it isn't answered until the very end. HAHAHA!

**Tacofoolio** – The reason he turned? Hmm…guess you'll have to keep reading to find out!

**Rifa** – Don't pick on me! AHHH! Haha…just kidding. Anyways, you've got a lot of critiques! Geez…but thanks, they do help me a lot. You're actually the first person who doesn't like my spell usage. What do you think I should do instead? Yea…I realized I messed up with Oeilvert. Don't kill me! I promise this chapter will be better. Gah…stupid anti-magic barriers screwing up my story…

**Eika** – You owe me however much you were going to bet. You guessed wrong! HAHA! But, I'll give you back your money if you can figure who is behind all this. Oops…did I just give away a bit of the plot? Hehehe…made you curious, I bet.

**Ravyn Crescent** – Glad you're still with me! This next chapter will only make you more curious.

**Lost Mercenary** – Glad you love my story. As for Vivi…it's a plot twist that is going to leave you stunned. The truth is actually pretty interesting. Keep reading to find out the truth!

**Kingpin** – Yea…Oeilvert is my bad. I screwed up. Sorry about that. Hope it didn't ruin the rest of the story.

**MonsterversusExplorer** – Interesting name…glad you like my story. As for your guess…maybe and maybe not…haha.

Geez…you guys made me use a page and a half to answer all your reviews. Keep them coming!

**MAJOR NOTICE: THIS STORY WILL CONTAIN A MASSIVE PLOT TWIST!** If you can figure who the true villain behind all of this is, then I congratulate you now, cause there is no way I could have figured it out. As for the rest of you…you'll have to keep reading to find out. Haha…hope I have your attention now. On with the story then?

Chapter Six – New Revelations

"I'm glad to be home," Garnet sighed, stepping off the Hilda Garde 3. Though she had learned much while visiting Oeilvert, nothing was better than returning to Alexandria. But, some of the things that the stone revealed to her…Garnet shuddered at the thought. If Zidane were to ever master all the abilities of the planet…

"Garnet!"

Garnet spun around to see who it was. Running across the green slopes was Eiko, purple hair flying in the wind. She seemed to be traveling much, much faster than usual. If Eiko had cast **Haste** in order to get to Garnet quicker, something was definitely up. Garnet was right. No soon had Eiko reached did she start babbling about something at an insane speed. Garnet tried to calm her down but to no avail.

"Eiko!" Garnet shouted over the younger girl's babbling. Eiko stopped talking and looked up at Garnet. "Calm down. I haven't understood a word you said. Now start over."

Eiko screamed excitedly, "We've got one, we've got one! Beatrix captured him trying to sneak into Alexandria! We were waiting until you got back to interrogate him."

"You've got Zidane?" Garnet asked excitedly.

Eiko shook her head, "No, not Zidane. We captured one of his Genomes."

"Then let's go," Garnet commanded and altered her abilities. With the help of her **Auto-Haste**, Garnet and Eiko were at the front steps to the castle in less than five minutes. Setting her abilities back to normal, Garnet entered her castle. However, she didn't even take a step before catching sight of Beatrix standing at the door. The general had obviously been waiting for her.

"Come princess," Beatrix said respectfully. "The prisoner is in the dungeon."

Beatrix led the way down the stairs that were hidden in Queen Brahne's bedroom. Garnet's memories flashed back on the time that Zidane had led her down these stairs to escape from her own mother. Catching herself, she shook her head to rid the images of Zidane.

"Here we are," Beatrix announced and stepped to the side so that Garnet could enter first. Garnet instantly recognized the room. It was the same room that Zorn and Thorn had forcefully extracted her Eidolons from her very body. And there, chained to the same slab of stone that Garnet had laid unconscious upon, was the Genome. He was weaponless, of course, but he still had his armor on. His resemblance to Zidane was uncanny.

The Genome did not raise his head at her approach. However, before she could step onto the slab of stone, Garnet felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked over her shoulder at Beatrix, who shook her head.

She whispered, "His restraints prevent him from getting any farther than the edge of the stone. But, step onto it, and he can easily attack you. You know how brutally strong they are, even without their weapons. I'm sorry to say, my princess, but you wouldn't last long against him."

Garnet nodded to show that she understood. She took a step back from the rock. At this movement, the Genome finally looked up. His aqua blue eyes bore into her own, and she remembered the first time that she had looked eye to eye with Zidane.

"_What is wrong with me_?" Garnet whispered to herself. "_Why does everything remind me of Zidane_?"

"Garnet?" Eiko asked quietly.

Garnet muttered, "I'm sorry." Shaking her head to rid all thoughts of Zidane, she looked at the Genome warrior once more. The soulless Genome stared back solemnly, unaware of the effect that he had on Garnet. Garnet tried to stare him down but failed miserably.

"A Genome warrior," Garnet said to no one in particular. "The ultimate killing machine. With strength almost equal to Zidane, they have no soul, and thus carry no conscience. They can kill without mercy or compassion. What are you doing here?"

This last question was directed at the Genome. However, either did not notice or did not care to answer. Garnet was about to ask him again, but Beatrix took over. She drew her Save the Queen and held it before her in an attacking stance.

"Answer or I'll kill you," Beatrix threatened.

The Genome replied evenly, "So kill me."

"_He even sounds like Zidane_!" Garnet thought wildly.

"Let me try," Eiko said confidently. She twirled her Angel Flute and blew into it gently. "**Confuse**!"

The Genome had been glaring at the three females standing before him. But, suddenly, they were gone! The room around him became pitch black and then blindingly white. His memories were turned upside down, inside out, twisted so badly that what had not happened became his truth and what had happened became falsehood.

"Stand back," Eiko told the other two. As the caster of the magic, Eiko would seem like a friend to the Genome. The fallen warrior was on his back, unmoving save for his tail, which was swaying back and forth like a broom.

"Hey," Eiko called out suddenly. The Genome sat up suddenly, staring suspiciously at the young summoner. Within moments, however, his eyes lost their accusatory glare and simply went blank again.

Eiko asked quietly, "What is your name?"

The Genome replied, "Master Garland called me by no name. The Black Mages call me Mr. 741. Lord Zidane calls me Yash."

"Yash?" Eiko echoed with a funny look on her face. She turned around to look at Garnet, who shrugged noncommittally. Eiko turned back to the Genome.

"Why are you here?" Eiko asked.

"I was sent by Lord Zidane to infiltrate Alexandria Castle," the Genome replied, emotionless. "I was to find out where Garnet's most powerful allies were located and report back to Lord Zidane."

"Who were you looking for, specifically?" Eiko questioned the Genome.

The Genome answered, "I was sent to look for two summoners named Garnet Til Alexandros XVII and Eiko Carol. I was also looking for a blue mage named Quina, and the female general of Alexandria named Beatrix."

Garnet whispered something in Eiko's ear and the younger girl nodded. Eiko turned back to the Genome and stared down at him.

"Why is Zidane attacking Gaia?" Eiko demanded. "Why does he seek to kill those that were once his greatest friends?"

The Genome didn't blink as he responded, "I do not know."

Garnet threw up her hands in frustration and stalked out of the dungeon. Behind her, Eiko and Beatrix exchanged looks before continuing their interrogations.

"Why doesn't anyone know!" she screamed in fury.

Garnet stormed out of the dungeon and ran back up to her room. The moment she was within range, she threw herself upon the bed. Lying there, she closed her eyes and breathed. Holding back the tears that were threatening to spill, Garnet just simply laid there, unmoving.

"What is wrong with me?" Garnet said to herself. "Why do I care so much about why Zidane wants to kill me? I shouldn't! I should strike back at him; hurt him enough that he would stop his crusade to destroy the world. But that wouldn't give me peace of mind. I want to know why! I need to know why!"

"So ask him."

Garnet yelped and fell off the bed. Peeking around the bed, Garnet spied Freya standing on her balcony. The female dragon knight warrior had her Dragon Hair's spear at her side. Her look was not at all hostile.

"What are you doing here?" Garnet snarled. Not for the first time in her life, she wished she knew how to cast **Holy** like Eiko. Its power was equal to Vivi's **Flare** spell, and Eiko's ultimate white magic spell had saved them numerous times.

"I am not here to fight," Freya said calmly. If she was worried about Garnet calling for guards, she did not show it. Her eyes were calm and serene, unlike the eyes she had during their quest to destroy Kuja and save Gaia. At that time, her eyes reflected the loneliness and sadness of her soul. But after being reunited with Fratley, she had changed. Garnet thought it was ironic that it was now her with the sad eyes.

Garnet snapped, "Well, if you aren't here to fight, what are you here for?"

"I am here to give you this message from Zidane," Freya replied. "It would be wise if you heeded his warning." Freya tossed the scroll of paper at Garnet and then took a flying leap off the balcony. Garnet ran to her balcony in time to see the Dragon Knight land outside of Alexandria and run to her airship.

With trembling steps, Garnet walked slowly over to the scroll that Freya had tossed and picked it up gently. With quivering hands, she opened it and read its message. In horror, she dropped the message and retreated a few steps. The message suddenly burst into the flame, turning into ashes before her very eyes. But the contents of the message were seared into her mind.

_Garnet,_

_It has been months since I've declared war on Gaia. I have commanded my troops in many battles, and I have noticed one similarity between them all: your forces are inferior to my own. Have your disastrous losses not worried you at all? I have a rough estimate of your forces, your strengths and your weaknesses. I will attack Gaia in a full-out war in two months. When that time comes, I hope you're better prepared to fight._

_Why do I give you this time to prepare? Maybe because there is still a bit of my soul that cares for you, that doesn't want to see you die so hopelessly. So I will give you two months to prepare. When two months are over, be sure, I will come for you personally. Use your time wisely._

The Death Angel 


	7. Training Begins

Summer vacation has arrived! That doesn't mean I can just post daily though, since I'm hoping to get a job to earn me some extra money. However, posts will occur more often than once a month, if that makes you guys feel any better. I do have marching band practice starting soon, so that's going to take up quite a bit of time. And now, of course, we have the shout outs:

**Eika** – You seem to love this story, don't you? I think you either read or wrote something wrong: Freya and Vivi aren't against Zidane; they're his comrades. Also, your next guess is wrong but keep trying! And finally…stop giving Zidane pixie sticks! I was wondering why he was bouncing all over the place.

**Ameki** – Glad you like it!

**Rifa** – I don't mind picky people. However, you are wrong: genomes don't have souls. Only Zidane, Kuja, and Mikoto have souls out of all the genomes. I'll keep your advice about my use of the magic system in mind.

**Ravyn Crescent** – You have multiple theories? I'd be completely lost at this point in the story. But I'm glad you like it, and I hope you keep reading.

**Wonwingangel** – I agree with you! Fanfiction is definitely a good scapegoat. Death Angel letters freaking you out, eh? Guess I'll have to write a few more. As for the dropping of a few clues, no there haven't really been any. But this chapter will have some, as well as some action.

**Henrika** **Fanatic** – You know…your comments are kind of confusing. It took me a while to understand what you were trying to say. The characters aren't acting like they do in the story because something has happened to Zidane, which in turn affected them all. That's why Vivi is hurting others, and Freya killed Steiner. I realize it is confusing because I have written the reason why Zidane is going crazy.

Chapter Seven – Training Begins

"Nice try," Zidane laughed as the Grand Dragon's attack narrowly missed decapitating him. Having flown Choco out to the islands near Daguerreo, Zidane had been constantly training for the upcoming war. Now, he was facing off against his fourth Grand Dragon of the day.

"**Thundaga**!" the dragon hissed. Every creature upon the face of Gaia has its own unique language, but the names of magic spells are the same for all languages. Zidane, fast as he was, could not out do lightning and was struck by the powerful attack. His armor absorbed the brunt of the attack, but the force behind it threw him back by several feet. However, Zidane flipped to his feet as if the attack had never occurred.

Zidane snarled, "Ok! No more games! That really hurt!"

The dragon roared in agreement and snapped it jaws at Zidane. Defiantly, the blonde genome twirled the **Ultima Weapon** a few times in his hands before holding it ready in front of him. For a moment, nothing moved. Then, everything happened at once.

The two of them lunged for each other at the exactly same moment! Acting like its ancient ancestors, the Grand Dragon's head darted forward like a snake and tried to snap its jaws around Zidane. However, the warrior was far too experienced for that and easily evaded the attack.

"Eat this!" Zidane screamed and leaped onto the dragon's head! The dragon, furious that such a small creature could outwit it, shook its head forcefully in an attempt to dislodge Zidane. Zidane somehow managed to keep his footing and with god-like strength, he plunged his **Ultima Weapon** straight through the dragon's head! The dragon, one of the mightiest creatures upon the face of Gaia, died the moment the sword pierced its brain and fell hard to the ground.

"That was close," Zidane muttered as he sheathed his **Ultima Weapon** on his back and started to walk to Choco. He had just reached the Chocobo when Choco suddenly sprinted away at high speed, warbling its head off. Slightly confused, Zidane turned around to see three Grand Dragons lumbering towards him!

"You've got to be kidding me!" Zidane exclaimed. "I just killed four of you!"

The Grand Dragons did not stop coming towards him. For a moment, Zidane simply felt like lying down and letting it all end. But then, the idea vanished and was replaced by anger and hatred. Zidane felt his pulse rising and blood pumping through his system. Power began to surge through him as his anger lent him strength and energy. As Zidane threw back his head and screamed, his body was consumed by Trance! When he lowered his head to glare at the Grand Dragons, he was no longer Zidane. Where Zidane had once stood, the Angel of Death had replaced him.

Zidane gestured at one and simply uttered, "**Solution 9**!"

Raw, furious energy lanced out of his hand and struck the dragon on the left. For a moment, nothing happened. But suddenly, the dragon that had been struck by the energy wailed in pain before simply disintegrating under the sheer power of Zidane's attack! The other two Grand Dragon hesitated for a moment, giving Zidane a moment to ready himself for his greatest attack. But then, from the sky, eight more Grand Dragons landed near the original two. Now, with reinforcements to help, the ten Grand Dragons started for Zidane again. The blonde genome merely grinned before pointing his open palms at the oncoming dragons.

"**GRAND LETHAL**!"

Sheer, undiluted energy poured out of Zidane's palms at the speed of light. The dragons weren't even given a chance to cry out in pain. One moment, they had been sure of their victory. The next, their prey had suddenly become the predator. The energy that tore out of Zidane's hands pierced the hides of the dragons without any difficulty and shredded them to pieces. When the attack was over, the dragons were no longer recognizable.

"I need to get to Daguerreo," Zidane muttered as his Trance started to wear off. He looked around desperately for Choco before noticing that the Chocobo had returned once the danger had cleared. Zidane barely had the energy to scramble onto Choco's back, much less actually fly the Chocobo to Daguerreo. Luckily, Choco knew Zidane well enough to understand the human tongue.

"Choco, take us to Daguerreo," Zidane whispered before collapsing. Choco warbled his agreement before taking to the sky.

(Flashback)

"Place hasn't changed a bit," Zidane commented as he stepped through the doors of Oeilvert. He wasn't exaggerating either. Oeilvert, protected by massive stone doors that only an Eidolon might have the strength to break, did not feel the flow of time. The monsters, native to the planet Terra, could not leave this foreign building and thus did not affect the outside world. Except for the time that Zidane had entered to fetch the Gulug Stone for Kuja, no one else had ever entered the place to change it.

"Let me think," Zidane muttered to himself. "Where were those writings that I remembered seeing?"

Zidane started to turn down a hallway, until something caught his eye. Something that should not have been there, simply because no one except Zidane and his party knew about this place. After all, Oeilvert was located on the Forgotten Continent. Even though Cid had created the airship that didn't need Mist, not that many people were willing to travel to unexplored regions. Zidane walked over to the offending item and eyed it for a second. It could not have been made by any monster, that much was sure. Also, it seemed to be very recent. Within the past week, if Zidane's guess was right.

It was footprint in the dust. After careful observation, Zidane realized it wasn't any footprint made by any member of his team. Glancing at the direction it was facing, Zidane noticed that it was heading towards the lift that led down into the cavern that held the Gulug Stone. Unsheathing the Ultima Weapon, Zidane cautiously approached the lift. Sure enough, another set of footprints was on the pad of the lift.

"Only a Terran can activate these pads," Zidane remembered, recalling memories of the Iifa Tree and the first trip to Oeilvert. "Did Mikoto come here? Or maybe one of the other Genomes? I know it wasn't Kuja; he said he hated this place. Well, only one way to find out."

Springing forward, Zidane landed gracefully on the pad. Instantly, he felt it come to life beneath him and it quickly descended down into the depths of Oeilvert. Then, as quickly as it had started, it just as quickly ended. Zidane stepped off the pad, just to come face to face with the intruder! Yet, the intruder did not frighten Zidane at all. Sitting on the statue that had held the Gulug Stone, the intruder seemed to have been waiting for Zidane.

"What are you doing here?" Zidane inquired, the Ultima Weapon at his side.

"Waiting for you," the intruder replied. But, at the sound of the intruder's voice, Zidane started. It was not the voice he had been expecting. Quickly, the Ultima Weapon came up in a defensive position.

"Who are you?" Zidane hissed. "You aren't who you seem to be."

"Can you not place my voice, simply because my body isn't what you remember?" the intruder sneered at Zidane.

"YOU!" Zidane shouted furiously, the voice suddenly clicking in his mind. "Why are you here!" The Ultima Weapon once more switched position, taking on Zidane's offensive stance.

"Do you honestly think you can hurt me?" the intruder asked, unperturbed by Zidane's hostile manner. "If you do, please feel free to try."

"DIE!" Zidane screamed and leaped at the intruder. Raising his hand, the intruder gestured at Zidane. The effect was astounding. Without any apparent contact, Zidane was simply blown backwards!

"Ugh…" Zidane moaned as he staggered to his feet. "Why are you here?"

"For you," the intruder laughed, standing up and starting towards the injured Zidane. The intruder stretched out a hand, and Zidane could _feel_ the power emanating from the hand. "Haven't you figured that out yet?"

"I will kill you," Zidane hissed. "Before this is all over, I will kill you."

"I doubt it," the intruder replied and touched Zidane's head gently. Then, everything went dark.

As Zidane slowly regained consciousness, he felt a hand upon his head. Instantly, he sprang to his feet and drew his Ultima Weapon. Or…at least, he tried to. The Ultima Weapon was no longer strapped to his back; it was leaning against one of the posts of his cot. Cot?

"Where am I?" Zidane asked, very confused.

A librarian laughed gently and replied, "My boy, you are in Daguerreo. You looked pretty beaten up when your chocobo dragged you in by your tail, so we had a doctor examine you. He said that all you needed was some rest, so we stuck you in one of our cots. You've been out for a couple of hours now. It is now dark outside, so you might just want to stay here for the night."

"Yea, probably," Zidane replied carelessly. Reaching for his bag, he pulled out an Elixir and drank the contents in one swallow. As the medicine flowed into his body, Zidane felt the last of his strength returning. Stretching, he turned towards the librarian.

"So where is my chocobo?" Zidane questioned.

"Well, as soon as we carried you away, he darted off and left," the librarian explained. "He was, by far, the fastest chocobo I have ever seen. We're sorry we couldn't catch him."

"That's alright," Zidane replied with a wave of his hand. "He's probably in Chocobo's Lagoon playing Hot and Cold with that moogle." Catching the look of confusion on the librarian's face, Zidane chuckled slightly and waved the man away. As the librarian wandered away, Zidane threw himself back on the cot and tried to remember his dream. But, try as he might, he couldn't remember much. Trying to recall the dream was like trying to hold water in your hands: it seeped away too quickly. Zidane could only recall the hand upon his head and a whole lot of laughter. He dismissed it with a shrug of his shoulders and closed his eyes.

After all, it was only a dream.


	8. Vivi vs Eiko

I guess you guys didn't really want me to update more, eh? Only **three** reviews last chapter? That almost made me not want to write for a year. I mean…the three reviews I got were great, but you guys need to review if you want me to update more often. Lots of thanks to those that did review! Anyways…school is starting soon and with that comes marching band. So therefore, I definitely won't be able to post frequently. Luckily, this story is close to ending. I doubt there will be more than four more chapters. So, keep reading and don't forget to review!

**Eika** – You're always the first person to review. Well…most of the time. Anyways, if you don't stop giving Zidane sugar in any form, I'll kill him off next chapter. Yes…you heard me right. Stares at lame threat Uh…right. Anyways, you think Quina did it? Well…that is an interesting theory. Keep reading though.

**Ravyn Crescent** – If you're still pacing your carpet, waiting for this chapter to appear…there's got to be a trench in your room or something. Anyways, I'm glad you approve of my work. I tried to figure out how to link to your site, but I couldn't figure it out. So, just let me know what I need to give you, and I'll tell you. Alright?

**Jenki Emeralds** – You're just now understanding it? Geez…I'm not very good as a writer then, am I? As for giving away the whole reason Zidane is attacking Gaia? I think I'll leave you dangling for a while longer.

Notice: There will be several spells used in this story that were not in Final Fantasy IX, but were in the others. Please don't yell at me for it.

Second Notice: Fanfiction is being annoying, and I can't insert a scene break. So, I'll have to make something very obvious.

Chapter Eight – Vivi vs. Eiko 

Vivi sat there, unmoving despite the bitter cold. Actually, to him, the weather was fairly pleasant, but that was mostly because he was equipped to deal with extreme cold. His amber eyes were closed as he once more focused his energy into himself. After a good minute of focusing, he stopped and waited. They came soon enough.

"Vepals," Vivi said to himself. They were like giant, green, flying fish. Only…they were strong…powerful enough to knock Vivi to the point of unconsciousness with a single blow. Without warning, one of the six Vepals suddenly rushed forward, determined to ram Vivi into the ground.

"**Firaga**!" Vivi shouted, unleashing the highly potent fire attack. The flames scorched the Vepal and it crashed to the ground, badly burnt to the point of death. Vivi didn't afford it another glance as he stared down the remaining five Vepals.

The five Vepals communicated for a moment in their strange tongue. Without warning, three of the Vepals cast **Blizzaga** simultaneously while the other two charged forwards to tackle Vivi once he was damaged by the powerful ice attacks. The plan was perfect in theory, and it would have devastated Vivi…except that he was fully protected from Ice attacks. As a result, the three **Blizzagas** merely felt like a brief chill to him…before he raised his hands and his eyes flared!

"**Double Flare**!" he screamed and the two Vepals that had been charging him were instantly incinerated under the sheer power of Vivi's most concentrated attack. His eyes still burning, he raised his staff high and then brought it down like a sword, pointing it directly at the three remaining Vepals.

"**Meteor**!" Vivi roared and the incoming asteroid completely obliterated the Vepals. As the dust cleared, Vivi took a deep breath as he surveyed the remains of the battlefield. The Vepals had been completely wiped out and all the snow that had been around them was completely melted. Unexpectedly, Vivi heard the loud, piercing shriek of a giant bird.

"**Phoenix**?" Vivi muttered to himself, staring at the giant firebird. **Phoenix** was soaring gracefully over a forest beyond a small range of mountains. Vivi watched as **Phoenix **released several petals of fire, which erupted the moment they hit the ground, causing the air to look like a spectacular firework display. Vivi knew that only two summoners remained of the ancient race and only one could summon **Phoenix**. And it wasn't Garnet.

"Eiko," Vivi breathed. It seemed like such a long time ago that Vivi had actually liked Eiko. But, something had changed. Vivi still wasn't sure whether it was him or her, but there was suddenly a rift between them, and they had not gotten along since. When Zidane declared war on Gaia, it only drove the two further apart.

"Shall we battle once more?" Vivi said to no one. Slowly, he started off towards the forest on the other side of the mountain range.

(Scene Change)

"That was close," Eiko muttered as **Phoenix** disappeared, leaving only the smoldering ashes of her fallen foes as proof that the majestic bird had once been there.

"**Cura**," she uttered and blew into her flute. Instantly, she felt the healing magic tend her few wounds. However, even as she started to put down her flute, she felt the presence of enemies nearby. For more than the first time in her life, Eiko wished she knew Garnet's **Scan** spell.

"**Protect**," she whispered and a beautiful golden light wrapped around her body, acting like a piece of flexible body armor. Just for good measure, Eiko also casted a **Shell** spell. Now, as well protected as she could possibly be, Eiko waited for her enemies.

The seconds ticked by and nothing came forward to challenge her. Slightly unnerved, Eiko held her flute to her mouth, a powerful word of power poised on her lips. Suddenly, she heard a monster scream to her left. She turned to face it, only to see it blasted out into the clearing of the forest, its body completely burned. Behind, a tiny warrior stood behind it. But Eiko did not put her guard down. Size was no indication of power. The warrior before her was a testimony to that.

"Vivi," Eiko said with gritted teeth.

Vivi replied, "Eiko. Long time since we last saw each other."

Eiko shot back, "For good reason too. I recall you trying to kill me with your **Doomsday** attack the last time you were nearby. Even with the Egoist Armlet, I barely survived it."

"What are you talking about?" Vivi questioned her. "Well, anyways, I've come to settle it with you today."

"Why are you playing stupid? But I'll admit, you've grown much stronger, Vivi," Eiko whispered, mainly to herself. "But so have I. Maybe you're right. Maybe now is the time to decide it all."

"I'm feeling crowded," Vivi announced. His voice was completely emotionless. "**Break**!"

Eiko closed her eyes and braced herself for the attack…but it never came. When she opened her eyes, she could only stare in astonishment. Vivi had completely petrified the forest!

"**Thundaga**!" Vivi shouted and massive bolts of lightning lanced down from the sky, blasting apart the petrified forest. Dust stirred up, but Eiko didn't fear. Her **Protect** spell was still in place, so she knew that, for the moment, nothing could physically hurt her. After the dust cleared, Eiko looked around, only to find that the entire forest was gone! Now, there was nothing but an open stretch of ground, which extended for several miles.

"Much better," Vivi said with approval. His voice was monotone and flat…as emotionless as the black mages before they awoke. What was happening to Vivi?

"Are you ready, Eiko?" Vivi questioned. "Then let's go!"

"**Holy**!" Eiko shrieked, blowing into her flute!

"**Flare**!" Vivi screamed, waving his staff!

The two most powerful concentrated magical attacks smashed into each other with all the force of two Grand Dragons. For a moment, the two energies were locked in a furious battle of power: the **Flare** unrelenting and the **Holy** unstoppable. But before either could triumph over the other, both died away. From a distance of 100 feet, Vivi and Eiko glared at each other.

"You've gotten better," Vivi admitted.

Eiko replied, "Same to you. But that's not all I can do!"

"**Holy**!"

"**Flare**!"

Shooting death glares at each other, they simultaneously shouted, "**Times 2**!"

This time, it took the snow a lot longer to settle down. When it finally did, a crater fifty feet in diameter was right in the middle of the two warriors, marking where the **Flare** and **Holy** had impacted each other.

"Impressive," Eiko remarked.

"Not bad," Vivi muttered. "But I'm not done yet!"

Eiko tensed, waiting for Vivi's next move. Her **Holy** spell was her only offensive spell. The rest were all used for healing or to make a battle easier. None of them could win a battle.

"**Fira**!" Vivi shouted. Eiko grinned and easily dodged the spell. She turned to face Vivi, only to find another **Fira** spell right in her face! Luckily, she had been prepared.

"**Haste**!" she uttered quickly, the Time spell allowing her to move ten times faster than normal. Twisting to her left, she barely managed to avoid the **Fira** spell. But even as she avoided the second **Fira** spell, two more were already on their way.

"_He's learned to rapid cast_!" Eiko thought to herself while dodging the continuous spells. Very quickly, Eiko realized that Vivi had been merely toying with her. As he continued his rapid casting, each spell came faster and faster after the next, until the air was filled with Vivi's powerful spells.

"**Hastaga**!" Eiko uttered and suddenly she was moving **100 times** faster than average! In the blink of an eye, Eiko ran _around_ the wall of **Firas** and appeared _behind_ Vivi, who had not yet registered the fact that Eiko was nowhere to be seen.

"**Mini**!" Eiko shrieked and Vivi suddenly found himself in a very big world. Not wasting a second, he realized he had somehow been hit by the **Mini** spell and whipped out a Remedy. But, fast as he was, Eiko was faster still while under the effects of **Hastaga**. With all the strength she could muster, Eiko kicked Vivi halfway across the frozen tundra! However, by the time Vivi hit the ground, the Remedy he had drank went into effect, and he returned to his normal size. The impact, therefore, was ten times as bad and when Vivi finally rolled to a stop, face down, he did not get up.

"Is it over?" Eiko panted, the **Hastaga** spell winding down. Vivi's body remained motionless. Sighing in relief, Eiko turned away. She didn't notice Vivi's body growing brighter, nor did she see his hat become pointed instead of flopping down as usual. She didn't even hear him stand up. But, she did feel an enormous burst of power when Vivi finally finished Trance.

"Impossible!" Eiko screamed. "You were out!"

"Almost," Vivi muttered. "But now I'm back. It's time to meet your maker, Eiko!"

"Not quite," Eiko countered as she tranced as well!

Vivi took a step back in shock, "You can control when you trance!"

"Yes!" Eiko replied. "Now feel my new power!"

"**Flare**!"

"**Holy**!"

"**Times 4**!" They both screamed.

The snow didn't have time to settle down this time. The sheer power of Vivi and Eiko blew all the surrounding snow far away. Fueled by trance, Vivi's rapid casting became even faster. But Eiko still had Hastaga up her sleeve, and she wasn't afraid to use it.

"**Hastaga**!" Eiko shrieked. Unfortunately, Vivi was prepared this time.

"**Slowaga**!" He countered.

The two Time spells cancelled the other out and suddenly, Eiko's best defense was useless. Falling back on her original defenses, Eiko cast **Shell**, this one much more powerful than her normal one. Meanwhile, Vivi was no longer rapid casting his **Fira** spell. He had now progressed to **Firaga**, and he was casting faster than ever. Then, to his shock, he found he could not longer cast any magic!

"_Of course_!" he thought. "_I've exhausted my magic supply_!"

Moving as fast he could, he uncorked an elixir and downed it. But in the few short seconds it took the elixir to go into effect, Eiko had already cast **Hastaga** and was preparing to cast a **quadruple Holy**. Vivi had prepared himself for fighting nothing but ice monsters the entire time. He was completely defenseless against **Holy**!

"**Quadruple Holy**!" Eiko shouted and four super-charged **Holys **blew towards him with unstoppable power. Vivi could only watch in horror as they shrieked towards him. He was powerless to stop them. Reacting on instinct, he curled into a ball and closed his eyes.

"_What magic do I have that can deal with a **quadruple Holy**_?" Vivi shouted at himself. "_Nothing! All my powerful magic is nothing compared to a **quadruple Holy**! Only my **quadruple Flare** can equal it! And I have no time to cast it! I'm going to die_!"

Vivi almost cried as he realized that nothing could save him. But then…so deep within him that he had never felt it before…a power beyond anything he had ever cast before made itself known. Vivi didn't try to cast it. He had no idea what it was! Instead…he simply let go of all control over himself. The magic filled his veins, and he felt electrified. Nothing…nothing could compare to this! Even Doomsday paled in comparison to this!

Eiko could only watch in horror as her **quadruple Holy** spell was completely overpowered by Vivi's sheer energy. As his energy continued to grow, the ground around him crumbled into dust. A crater began to form beneath him, but he did not fall into it. He was actually being levitated by the sheer power of this magic attack!

All of a sudden, Eiko realized what spell Vivi had finally tapped into. It was the greatest magic attack of all time. Firaga, Thundaga, and Blizzaga were nothing to it. It dwarfed Flare, Holy, and Meteor. Doomsday could not come close. A magic spell that had no equal, with enough power to completely level a planet. So powerful that no one had even fully mastered it before. **Ultima**.

"Vivi," Eiko whispered, scared beyond any sense. "What have you done?"

Vivi turned his head towards her, and Eiko turned white. Vivi's eyes were no longer amber. They were now bright red. They seemed to glow with power.

"Prepare…to die," Vivi said emotionlessly. Raising his right hand, Vivi pointed it into the sky. With barely any effort, the Ultima spell formed above his palm, a bright, shiny, pink sphere of pure death.

"**Ultima**!" Vivi said calmly. The pink sphere shot into the sky, where it divided and became a dozen streaks of light that shot towards Eiko with incredible speed. There was only one thing Eiko could do: run.

"**Hastaga**!" Eiko shouted as she started to run. Her **Hastaga **spell gave her enough speed to equal the **Ultima** attack. Each time, she dodged the **Ultima** spell by only a few feet and where it hit the ground, it didn't create an explosion but simply drilled a hole straight through the earth. Amazingly, Eiko dodged all twelve of the streaks of death, and she didn't give a second look behind her as she ran with all possible speed to the Hilda Garde 4.

"You won, Vivi," Eiko whispered as the airship took off towards Lindblum.

(Scene Change)

Vivi watched the Hilda Garde 4 fly away, but something inside him stopped him from unleashing Ultima upon it. Surprisingly, he realized that it was himself who stopped the spell from behind cast. With a cry, he regained control of his body.

"What am I?" Vivi screamed, throwing his staff away and clutching his head. "What have I become? I wanted to fight Eiko, to hurt her, to scare her into not fighting anymore! But kill her? I would never have dreamed of it! **Doomsday**? When have I ever summoned **Doomsday** against her? Never, I have never summoned it against her! At least…not that I can remember."

Realization hit Vivi. He understood what was happening. And he also realized what it meant in the long run. Quickly, he ran as fast as he could back to the airship that he had arrived on. He had to tell Zidane about this.

"_I am just like my brothers_," Vivi thought to himself. "_They were born asleep and later awoke, with no remembrance of what they had done when they were asleep. Soon after they wake, they stop. I was born awake, but now I fear that I am falling asleep. Will I soon fall into a sleep that I cannot awake from? And if I do…will I soon stop as well_?"

Doubling his speed, Vivi ran faster towards his ship.

Review this time!


	9. Prelude to Battle

O.o Whoa…it's been a long time since my last post. I had almost forgotten this story until Ravyn told me to update it. Anyways, sorry about that. School's been out to get me, so I haven't had much time for anything nowadays. This one is going to be kind of short, sorry. But anyways, on with the story.

**Chapter Nine – Prelude to Battle**

Garnet sighed deeply and collapsed onto her bed. Eiko had returned to Alexandria castle in a mess; her clothes were torn, she had wounds all over her body, and she was on the verge of hysteria. After Garnet had healed her and forced Eiko to tell her what had happened during her training, Eiko had recalled her horrific battle: the clashing power of Flare and Holy, the intensity of Vivi's rapid casting, and the sheer energy that was **Ultima**. When Eiko was done, Garnet had sent her to her room and then headed for her own. Now, facedown in her own bed, Garnet pondered her next course of action.

"_With the power of **Ultima** at his disposal, Vivi is almost equal to Zidane in strength_," Garnet thought. "_Even our Eidolons can't combat against both Dyne and Ultima at once_. _What can I do?_"

The answer hit Garnet at once. She shot out of her room and raced to the library. There, after searching frantically for a few minutes, she found what she came for: Dr. Tot. The old scholar had moved to Alexandria after Garnet had convinced him that Treno was no longer safe. Now, he could prove to have information that could turn the tides of war.

"Dr. Tot!" Garnet called out urgently. "I need your help!"

"Ah! Queen Garnet!" Dr. Tot replied back with a smile. "How may I help you?"

"You are the most knowledgeable person on Gaia about the summoner tribe and Eidolons," Garnet told him. "I need your advice on something."

"Anything, my dear, anything," Dr. Tot told her. "I will help you in anyway that I can."

"Well," Garnet began. "Here is what I had in mind…"

(Scene Change)

"Zidane!"

The blonde hair genome glanced over his shoulder quizzically as Vivi burst into his room. He had been standing at the window, looking out upon the village in a weird, lethargic sort-of mood. But, the sense of stress in Vivi's voice had forced all the tiredness out of him.

"What is it?" Zidane asked. "Are you hurt?"

"No, no!" Vivi replied hastily. "I'm fine. At least, for now."

"For now?" Zidane questioned.

Vivi whispered, "Zidane…I think…I think that I'm going to stop soon."

"You better not stop until you've finished telling this story of yours," Zidane said back, half-joking, not understand what Vivi had meant. In his frustration with the genome, Vivi stamped his feet angrily.

"That's not what I meant!" Vivi shouted. Zidane took a step backwards. Vivi hardly yelled, and if he did, he wanted to say something important. "Zidane. I think I'm dying. Very soon, I think I'm going to stop moving."

"What?" Zidane whispered. "Why do you think so?"

"Do you remember when we first encountered my brothers?" Vivi questioned. "Remember how they were asleep and when they awoke, they didn't remember anything they had done? Well, the same thing happened to me when I fought Eiko earlier. I fell asleep. And when I woke up, I had no idea what I had done."

"Vivi…" Zidane started, but Vivi cut him off again.

"Zidane, that's not it," Vivi said. "While I fought Eiko, I felt this massive power within me. When I released it, it came out in the form of **Ultima**."

"**Ultima**, huh?" Zidane said thoughtfully and started pacing slowly. "Interesting. Very interesting. In fact, I've got a new technique I want to try with you, Vivi. It's called **Fusion**…" (A/N: Not the Fusion from DBZ)

(Scene Change: Several Days Later)

Garnet sighed and collapsed into her bed. The past few days had been exhausting, both physically and mentally. But, she smiled to herself, it was worth it. Zidane was going to be in one heck of a shock when Garnet and Eiko released their newest technique.

"No rest for the weary, Garnet."

Garnet's head snapped up to glare at the form of Zidane perched on her window. He didn't carry his Ultima Weapon and though he had his Orichalcon, it was sheathed at his side. His intentions were clear; he had come to talk, not fight.

"What do you want?" Garnet snarled and rolled off the bed to face him. Even if he had come only to talk, Garnet still didn't trust Zidane enough to just lie there while he was in such close proximity.

Zidane grinned and replied, "Such hostility. You must learn to be a better guest, Garnet."

Garnet screamed and grabbed the nearest thing to her, which happened to be a comb on her table, and threw it with all her might at Zidane. Zidane's grin actually widened even further as he step sided the projectile with such speed that the comb actually hit _afterimage_! Garnet's rage was instantly replaced with cold fear at Zidane's remarkable speed.

"_Incredible!_" Garnet thought to herself. "_His speed is beyond sight. He could cover the distance between us in the blink of an eye_. _Even Eiko's **Hastaga** can't match that!_"

Zidane walked towards Garnet with confident steps, his tail swaying side to side and his grin never faltering. He plopped himself down on her bed and crossed his arms behind his head. He didn't say anything, but Garnet didn't take her eyes off him for a moment.

"So Garnet," Zidane said suddenly, startling the Queen. "Are you and your troops ready? I think I've given you quite enough time."

"If that's all you're here for, you can leave," Garnet replied angrily. "My troops and I are always ready."

"Good. In ten days time, I will launch an assault upon Alexandria with a force and power that has never been witnessed before upon the face of Gaia. You will be utterly crushed."

"You just gave up the element of surprise, Zidane," Garnet said with a smirk. "We'll crush you, not the other way around." When there was no reply, Garnet looked down at the bed, only to find that Zidane was gone. However, when she turned back around, she found herself face to face with Zidane in a light kiss. The contact between their lips was hardly there, but it still felt like lightning had shot through her. However, before she could even move a muscle, Zidane leapt through the air like a bird and landed on her balcony. He had a small, slightly demonic smile on his face.

"That was for the tiny part of my heart that is the love-struck genome that you fell in love with years ago. Zidane is no longer in control. From now on, you'll be dealing with the Death Angel."

And then, with the speed that could move him faster than the eye could see, he simply _disappeared_.


	10. Onwards to War

OMG…I'm updating. looks around Yes, indeed, I am updating. Wow…and sorta on time too. I think something's wrong with me. Well, I think it had to do with me feeling bad about writing such a short chapter last time. So this time, I shall write a bit more...a lot more.

**Chapter Ten – Onwards to War!**

Steiner had once told her how horrific war was, but even in her wildest imagination, she didn't imagine it to be like this. Standing on a high hill, which overlooked the entire battlefield, Garnet could see nothing but blood, fighting, and death. Beside her, even Eiko, who had been in more battles than her, was quite pale and faint looking. This was war at its most primal level; when all thoughts of pity, sympathy, and love were thrown out the door, to be replaced by sheer hate and loathing for the enemy before you. You had to fight to kill, because you could be sure that your enemy wanted you dead.

"My gods," Eiko breathed, her voice barely above a whisper. "This is horrible."

Garnet held out her hand, palm outwards, and muttered, "**Scan**."

Information about the entire battle was shoved into her head, and she tried to analyze it as quickly as she could. She nodded in approval when she saw that the two forces were about equal in fighting strength. Good, that meant her troops were holding their own, even against the genomes.

"Well?" Eiko inquired.

Garnet smiled slightly and replied, "Not too bad. If we keep this up and then use our trump card, we should win easily. Especially when – "

A scream drowned out the remainder of Garnet's sentence. A genome was lying at the bottom of the hill they were standing on, his back to the ground and his face screaming at the sky. The reason for his screaming was evident: lodged in his chest to the hilt was one of the most of powerful knight swords of all time: Save the Queen. And the genome's screams only increased when the owner of the sword started walking towards him.

"**Holy**!" Beatrix shouted. The potent white magic, dulled slightly by the fact that Beatrix was not a true white mage, nonetheless incinerated the genome to atoms. All that remained was Save the Queen, buried in the grass.

"Your highness," Beatrix said with a smile, bowing and pulling her sword out of the ground at the same time. "Please stay out of danger."

"I will," Garnet replied with her own small smile. She turned to Eiko. "As I was saying, especially if Beatrix keeps fighting the way she is, she'll take out half of Zidane's forces by herself."

"Garnet! Look out!" Eiko screamed and leaped in front of Garnet, taking the rocketing spear straight to the chest! Only a last second Protect spell had prevented Eiko from suffering the same fate as the genome that had just died. Quickly, Garnet rushed over, threw the spear behind her, and pulsed a **Cura** spell through her best friend.

"Tsk. That attack was meant for you."

Garnet wheeled around to face the best Dragon Knight that Burmecia had ever had to offer: Fratley Crescent. The dragon knight reached down and scooped up his spear, which Garnet had conveniently thrown right at his feet.

"If you're here, then that means…" Beatrix trailed off and turned around, just in time to see Freya's spear _right in her face_! Instincts born out of decades of fighting saved her life but could not save her from injury. The spear lanced through her left shoulder, severing a nerve, leaving her left arm limp and useless.

"Close, but not close enough," Freya muttered as she landed, retrieving her spear. She glanced at Beatrix and saw the damage she had done. "Still…you're not nearly as dangerous now without your left arm."

"Says you," Beatrix snarled and charged Freya, Save the Queen clutched firmly in her right hand. Freya snapped her spear in a guard stance and flew forward as well. Their exchange of blows was quick and furious, but Beatrix was quickly blown backwards with a new cut on her face.

"You cannot beat me in your current state," Freya stated. "And if you cannot beat me, how can you hope to avenge the one you loved…the one you let die, because you were not strong enough to protect him?"

Beatrix screeched, "You're blaming his death on me? You were the one that killed him, you filthy rat!"

"It is true that I killed him," Freya replied. "But the two of us were evenly matched. Sooner or later, one of us was going to die. But the deciding factor was you. If you had fought with the same strength that you had used against Fratley in the original battle when you gave him amnesia, you would have easily beat him and saved Steiner. But you couldn't because you had lost that strength. In these times of peace, you had lost the power that made all warriors respect you. So, in the end, it was your fault that Steiner died."

"Power?" Beatrix choked. "You think this all comes down to power? If so…then let me show you real power."

With her right hand, she reached up and ripped off the bandana that covered her left eye! A hideous scar ran vertically across the eye, the evidence of the wound that had taken that eye. She then dipped her right hand in the wound that Freya's spear had carved in her left shoulder. With the blood dripping off her index finger, she wiped the blood in her left eye!

"What the devil?" Freya whispered, taking a step back. Fear gripped the female Dragon Knight as a shockwave of power emulated from Beatrix. But that wasn't what really scared the Dragon Knight. For, the moment the blood came into contact with her blinded eye, her entire left eye had become blood red!

"My ultimate technique," Beatrix hissed. "Once unleashed, no one has ever walked away alive. It is called **Saikyō**, the all seeing vision!"

Freya gasped, "My gods. That's supposed to be a legend! It has never been attempted before!"

"Well then," Beatrix growled, sliding into her fighting stance once more. "The warrior that is about to take your life is only one who has ever attempted the technique and learned is successfully! Be honored."

"Feh," Freya spat, twirling her spear and holding out in the guard position. "All seeing vision or not, I'll still send you to hell with Steiner. After all, you are the only that that's been holding back secret techniques."

Freya charged again, her **Lancer** technique propelling her forward at incredible speed. And yet, despite her incredible burst of speed, to Beatrix, the dragon knight was moving in slow motion! Beatrix leaped to the side and held her sword overhead, preparing to cleave Freya in two the moment she shot passed.

To Freya, it appeared that Beatrix had already started her counter attack before Freya had launched her attack! Desperate to dodge the counter attack that would surely injure her, possibly even kill her, Freya turned her **Lancer** into a spinning dive! And yet, once more, Beatrix saw all of this in slow motion.

"**Shock**!" Beatrix screamed and the airborne Freya was blasted away by fifty feet!

"Freya!" Fratley shouted and was about to spring to her side when he felt a powerful force beside him. Glancing down, he saw that tiny child he had knocked unconscious earlier was up and about again. She was glaring at him and in her hand, pointed at him, was a white ball of pure holy energy, so pure that it could only destroy, not heal.

"**_Holy_**!" Fratley thought to himself with shock. He had seen the power of **Holy** moments before him and Freya had launched their ambush on them. The power of **Holy** had completely incinerated a genome to atoms.

"If you attempt to help her," Eiko hissed, "I'll blast you out of the air."

Fratley responded numbly, "But against **Saikyō**, Freya stands no chance."

"What is **Saikyō**?" Garnet questioned. "I'm pretty sure I've heard it in a book before or something."

"**Saikyō**," Fratley whispered. "The ultimate fighting technique. The one who possess it would be unstoppable in battle, for it allows the user to see events _before_ they occur and thus, allows the user to react the moment the attack is launched. Also, **Saikyō** registers everything so quickly that it all appears in slow motion to the user. But, no one thought the technique was attainable."

"Why's that?" Eiko questioned.

Fratley swallowed and replied, "It is ancient white magic which must be spoken in a language that has long since died. Then, even if the user learns the incantation, it requires much sacrifice. **Saikyō** requires that the eye be blind, so the user must blind himself in one eye first. Even then, the success rate of **Saikyō **is only 25. The user must be willing to give up his life to gain the technique."

Garnet said thoughtfully, "I suppose, when Steiner died, Beatrix had nothing left to live for, save for avenging his death. She also knew that she wasn't strong enough to defeat either Freya or you. So, to accomplish her goal, she was willing to give her life."

"It seems to have paid off," Eiko remarked. "Freya is getting her butt handed to her."

"Not quite," Fratley contradicted her. "For you see, **Saikyō** is an extremely powerful move. But, it has one downside. Twenty-four hours from the moment she activated it, the user will die. There is no cure and no preventing it. That is why so few have ever attempted to gain it."

"_Beatrix_," Garnet thought in shock. "_What have you done!_"

"It was the only way, Garnet," Beatrix replied, her eyes trained on Freya, who was struggling to get to her feet, still recovering from the **Shock** attack that Beatrix had landed perfectly on her. "It was the only way I could avenge Steiner and see him again soon. Now," Beatrix said, turning her attention to Freya, "now…we finish this."

Beatrix charged, her sword gripped in her right hand, preparing to gut Freya through. The female Dragon Knight, still too wounded to defend herself, could only watch in horror at Beatrix charged.

"Freya!" Fratley shouted, startling the two mages. With one, swift move, he batted away Eiko and Garnet and leaped towards Freya. Screaming in outrage, Eiko hopped to her feet, fed all her energy into her **Holy**, and let it loose!

"EIKO, NO!" Garnet screamed from the ground.

But it was already too late.

Time seemed to stop for Beatrix. Even with **Saikyō**, she had never seen it coming. One moment, her sword seemed destine to thrust straight through Freya's heart. The next, a swift moving shadow had planted itself right in her path. Too late to stop, Beatrix's sword lanced straight through Fratley's chest. And yet, Fratley did not budge an inch after he was hit. He remained standing, arms out, head held high. The reason why became apparent.

"Fratley," Freya sobbed, hugging her beloved from behind. "Why?"

"For love, of course," he replied simply.

"Your spear," Beatrix breathed in realization. "You stuck your spear behind your back to prevent Save the Queen from hitting Freya!"

"Yes," Fratley replied quietly.

"Beatrix, you monster!" Freya screamed. "You were supposed to kill me, not him!"

"I couldn't stop it!" Beatrix shouted back. "I was supposed to kill you. You killed Steiner!"

Fratley interrupted, "She killed the one you love, and now you've killed the one she loves. In a way…I'd call this some kind of ironic justice…wouldn't you? Freya, my love, I await you in the afterlife."

And, with that parting message, Fratley Crescent, the greatest dragon knight that Burmecia had ever raised, passed away. Suddenly, with no life left to support his weight, Fratley crumpled to the ground, Freya going down with him. She cradled the lifeless warrior to her chest, tears pouring down her face, but no screams were coming out anymore.

Suddenly, Beatrix felt an enormous power behind her. **Saikyō** told her it was **Holy**, and she could have easily dodged it, but something held her back.

"_Freya and I_," Beatrix thought. "_We aren't so different. We both are warriors, refusing to let the one we love fight for us. We both fight for our countries and the ones we love. And we both killed the other's lover. Perhaps, it is only fitting we die together as well_."

"Perhaps you'll see Fratley soon that you think," Beatrix said with a smile. Freya raised her head slightly to see a massive spell of **Holy** streaking towards them with impossible speed. She smiled sadly, bowed her head, and kissed Fratley lightly on the cheek. Beatrix saluted them with Save the Queen and sheathed her faithful sword, one final time.

And then…they were gone…in a blast of pure, holy light.

A/N: Ahahahahahaha…bet you didn't see that one coming, did you! Bwahahaha…I am so evil.


	11. Fusion

Chapter 11 - Fusion 

"_What am I doing?_"

Zidane blinked and shrugged off the strange thought. He was in the midst of the greatest battle in the history of Gaia; he couldn't afford to be thinking about anything except killing his opponent. A thrust with his **Ultima Weapon** finished off the Lindblum soldier and Zidane quickly pushed his dead foe away to clear room for his next victim.

"_What has happened?_"

Zidane paused momentarily, wondering what was wrong with him and almost got his head severed off by the Alexandrian soldier that had sprung out nowhere! Reflexes born out of a lifetime of survival saved his life: the **Ultima Weapon** flashed up and parried the sword at the last moment. With both weapons locked up, both Zidane and his foe freed their right hands and punched the other as hard as possible! Zidane's head was rocked backwards, but the blow wasn't very effective, seeing as she was still only a mortal. His punch, on the other hand, sent her flying backwards and she was engulfed in a conveniently placed **Firaga** spell that Vivi had just cast. Zidane spat disdainfully on the soldier's remains, which was only a small pile of ashes.

"Report!" Zidane barked.

"Pinnacle Rocks has been stormed three times, but Amarant has our stronghold well defended. The five Genome divisions have carved up Gaia's armies, but they've suffered massive casualties as well. The battle is pretty much even at the moment."

Zidane questioned, "What about Freya and Fratley? Did they accomplish their mission?

Vivi shrugged and replied, "I don't know. Garnet and Eiko, as well as Beatrix were up on that cliff. I felt Eiko release a **Holy** spell a while ago, but I haven't felt anything else other than that. But then again, Freya and Fratley haven't reported to me yet, so I'm not sure what has happened up there."

A series of trumpet calls caught their attention and they whipped their heads around to face the new threat. The Alexandrian cavalry, composed of Alexandrian soldiers armed with lances atop battle trained Chocobos, had arrived. As they charged into battle, the Genomes, who were already hard pressed, were forced to start retreating. The Gaia Army quickly tried to press their advantage, but they were stopped cold by powerful blasts of **Thundaga** magic! The cavalry stopped short and pulled back to avoid being hurt, which is what Vivi was after in the first place. The lightning magic sent the Gaia Army reeling and the Genomes launched themselves on their vulnerable victims. Vivi quickly entered the fray and made his presence known, his magic decimating anything that stood in his path.

The Alexandrian cavalry, understanding that if they entered this battle, they would quickly be annihilated, searched for another opponent. They spotted Zidane standing by himself, gazing at the cliffs where Garnet and Eiko had been. He was instantly recognized as the leader of the Terra Army. The cavalry leader sounded the charge and fifty cavalry units sped toward Zidane, lances down and ready to gut the Terra leader. Zidane glanced over his shoulder at the charging cavalry and then looked back at the cliff. He could have sworn that he had seen a flash of black hair, but he wasn't positive.

"Die!" the lead cavalry unit screamed, his lance thrusting forward for the kill!

Almost calmly, Zidane spun around and deflected the lance with his pole arm! Using his momentum, he leapt into the air, spun around in a complete circle, drew his dagger and planted it in the back of the lead unit, all in the matter of a split second! The rider fell flat off his chocobo; he had died from the moment the dagger had severed his spinal cord and pierced his heart. Zidane narrowed his eyes at the remaining cavalry units and then vanished from sight!

All the cavalry could see was the brilliant flash of Zidane's gold hair as he dodged and weaved between them, striking down a dozen men in less than three seconds! No one screamed out in pain; they were already dead before they could feel the blow from his **Ultima Weapon**. Some tried to spear the blur that was Zidane, but the closest they managed to come was hitting his afterimage. Others tried to run, but they were easily struck down from behind. Within moments, terror gripped their hearts as they realized that they were up against something that was beyond anything any mere mortal could hope to handle.

30 seconds later, Zidane finally slowed to a halt over the body of a Chocobo. All around him, within the radius of thirty yards, laid the bodies of the Alexandrian cavalry. As started to secure the Ultima Weapon on his back, he saw a flash of black and purple on the top of the cliffs. Zidane almost grinned in spite of himself; it seemed that he would get in the final blow after all.

"_What am I feeling? Why do I want to kill Garnet?_"

Zidane grimaced and clutched his head, trying to force the foreign thoughts out of his brain. It was gone momentarily, but Zidane was starting to feel the slightest sense of unease. Was he going insane?"

"**ARK**!"

"**MADEEN**!"

Raising his eyes instantly to the cliffs, Zidane finally glimpsed Garnet and Eiko. They were standing at the edge of the cliffs and were summoning their most powerful summons. This time, Zidane actually grinned. He was going to enjoy shocking Garnet and Eiko with his new ability, and then he was going to kill them with it.

"**Save them! Save me!**"

Zidane quickly banished the thoughts from his mind again and ran off to find Vivi.

(Scene Change)

Ark was easily the most powerful of Garnet's summons; his power dwarfed even Bahamut, the King of Dragons. Only two summons could equal Ark. One was dead: the holy eidolon Alexander that was actually the holy eidolon that belonged to Garnet. The other floated next to Ark at the moment. Madeen was Eiko's holy summon, and he is currently the only summon capable of competing with Ark. The two most powerful Eidolons left hovered in the air over the battlefield, awaiting their instructions. Below them, the fighting had not ceased. In fact, it appeared that no one had even seen the Eidolons yet.

"Garnet?" Eiko questioned. "Are we going to do this?"

Garnet nodded and replied, "Let's just hope they know what to do."

Garnet and Eiko turned simultaneously to their Eidolons in the sky.

"**ARK!**" Garnet shouted. "**ETERNAL DARKNESS!**"

"**MADEEN!**" Eiko screamed. "**TERRA HOMING!**"

The two summoners shouted in union, "Combine your attacks and destroy Zidane!"

For a moment, the line between reality and fantasy blurred. **Ark** became **Madeen**…and **Madeen** became **Ark**. The two Eidolons became the other but retained their own unique characteristics. Then, they became one! Ark's cannon lowered onto his right shoulder and began to charge. But instead of a pinpoint of light, a seething globe of pure destructive power was formed. When it was finally formed, **Ark/Madeen** pointed the cannon at the battlefield and prepared to fire.

Garnet and Eiko watched with a mixture awe and fear. They were sure that nothing could escape this blast, not even Zidane or Vivi. On the other hand, that meant the entire Gaia Army would also perish. But in this case…the cost was worth it.

"FIRE!" They screamed. "**DECIMATE ILLUMINATION!**"

Right before the fused summons could fire their new attack, two bright lights surged on the battlefield. Zidane and Vivi had Tranced! But the two girls just smiled grimly. The boys, strong as they were, had nothing that could compete with **Decimate Illumination**. **Grand Lethal** and **Ultima**, incredibly destructive though they were, they were nothing compared to this new attack. **Ark/Madeen** braced itself in midair and fired!

(Scene Change)

"They're going to wipe out the entire battlefield!" Vivi whispered, staring up at the monstrosity that Garnet and Eiko had created. He and Zidane had both just Tranced simultaneously in order to pull off Zidane's newest attack, but Vivi doubted anything could take on the _thing_ above them.

Zidane replied dryly, "I think that's the point. But it doesn't matter. Are you ready?"

"Zidane, are you sure this will work?" Vivi stammered. "If it doesn't, then you don't have to wait for **Decimate Illumination** to destroy you. **Ultima** will do it just as well."

"Vivi, trust me," Zidane said, trying to reassure the young Black Mage. "I know what I'm doing. Now do it!"

Vivi sighed and lowered his head. Immediately, he snapped it back up and thrust out both hands in front of him, palms out, straight at Zidane. _Two_ **Ultimas** formed in his hands as Vivi concentrated all the power within him, straining for every ounce of power his body could give. Once his **Ultimas** were completed, his eyes flashed with incredible intensity and the two **Ultimas** leaped from his hands towards Zidane's body! His job completed, Vivi's Trance faded and he fell to his knees, completely exhausted. However, he was electrified by Zidane's next moves.

Zidane, the moment the two **Ultimas** rushed at him, braced himself and planted his feet firmly. Everyone watching thought he was about to die. But the explosions and death never came. Zidane, instead of being hurt by the **Ultimas**, absorbed them into his body! For a moment, there was silence.

Zidane simply stood there, clenching and unclenching his hands. His hair was standing on end; his eyes were wide with shock and awe. Every single cell in his body felt electrified.

"What power!" Zidane exclaimed. "I have never felt so strong in my life!"

Without warning, Zidane doubled up, as if he had been hit with a battering ram! The power of **Ultima**, in its concentrated form, was too much, even for him to handle. Quickly, he settled into the customary stance that initiated any of his **Dyne** techniques.

"Zidane!" Vivi called out. "Hurry!"

Zidane glanced skywards in time to see Ark/Madeen release **Decimate Illumination**. In response, Zidane tensed every single muscle, nerve, and cell in his own body and reached for the power now within him. He touched it and forced it out!

"**GRAND ULTIMA!" **he bellowed and released all the power within at once! Garnet was correct in believing that Grand Lethal and Ultima combined were not enough to overpower **Decimate Illumination**. But, when the two techniques were fused together, **Decimate Illumination **was the one that could not overpower **Grand Ultima**. **Grand Ultima **simply sheared straight through **Decimate Illumination** and struck **Ark/Madeen **dead center in the chest. The two Eidolons didn't even have to scream out. They were simply obliterated. The resulting explosion rocked the entire planet, sending everyone to the ground!

(Scene Change)

"Impossible!" Eiko gasped. "They fused **Ultima** and **Grand Lethal** together and overcame our combined summons!"

Garnet could not find words to express herself. She was angry that her plan had failed, in awe of Zidane and Vivi's newfound power, and scared to death that she was next.

Meekly, she crawled to the edge of the cliff to stare down at Zidane. She was expecting to see him standing proud and straight, ready to leap up the cliff and claim her life. It was completely opposite. He was kneeling on one knee, his head was bent, and smoke was rising off his body. Even his tail wasn't twitching.

"He's utterly spent," Garnet whispered.

Eiko replied back tiredly, "So are we. I can't even move a muscle."

"Good. I wasn't really in the mood to fight."

Garnet whirled around in time to see a fist in her face. It struck her straight in the chin and knocked her unconscious immediately. Eiko was just as easily dispatched. The attacker hefted Eiko onto their shoulder and grabbed Garnet around the waist. Then, he/she teleported away.

(Scene Change)

"Zidane," Vivi whispered. "That was incredible!"

Zidane didn't move from his position. The smoke was still rising off his body and his breathing was labored. Vivi tried to comfort Zidane by patting him on the shoulder, but he was immediately thrown backwards.

"Don't touch me!" he snarled. But, before Vivi could even formulate an apology, Zidane sank to his knees.

"I'm sorry, Vivi!" Zidane wailed. "I didn't do it!"

Zidane suddenly pitched forward on the ground and started screaming. His hands were clutching either side of his head and his whole body was shaking. Everyone around him was talking, but he didn't seem to take notice.

"Zidane! Get a hold of yourself!"

The talking ceased as the newcomer approached. Over one shoulder, the limp form of Eiko could be seen. In the right arm, Garnet was also being carried rather unceremoniously.

"Mikoto," Zidane gasped. "Help me."

"Here's the answer to your problems," Mikoto said calmly and threw Garnet down hard in front of Zidane. The pain from the fall woke her up and she moaned softly in pain.

Mikoto continued, "Here is the God of Life. I found her skulking up there on top of the cliffs. Kill her and the voice in your head will go away forever."

"You know about that?" Zidane said weakly. He slowly climbed to his feet. "How?'

"I know everything, Zidane," Mikoto replied evenly. "But I promise you, if you kill her, then everything you have worked for to this point will pay off."

Slowly, with everyone's eyes upon him, Zidane pulled the Ultima Weapon off his back. Even more slowly, he raised it over his head and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry."

Garnet opened her eyes just in time…to see Zidane's sword slice downwards toward her. She closed her eyes and prepared to die.

(End Chapter)

A/N: My apologies for the (very) late post. However, school has finally ended, so now I can finally finish up this work. I don't know if I'll write anything after this, but we'll have to see. Thanks for sticking with me for so long, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope you'll stick around for the ending, which will be either the next chapter or the one after it.


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